UC-NRLF 


Little  Histories 

North  American  Indians 


No.  I 


THE  NAVAHO 

OSCAR  H.  LIPPS 


The  Navajos 


ART  thou,  O  Navajo, 
The  progeny  of  some  prehistoric  race, 
Whose  history  lies  buried  'neath  the  sands 
On  which  thou,  these  centuries,  hast  trod  ? 
Or  hast  thou  no  traditions  of  thy  coming, 
Or  whence,  or  where,  through  all  these  years 
The  fates  have  led  thee  on  ? 
Surely  thou  hast  not  always  dwelt 
In  this  vast  solitude  of  sepulchral  gloom ! 

O.  H.  L. 


A  NAVAJO  BLANKET 

Designed  and  Woven  by  "Meh-li-to  be  Day-zhie." 
For  J.  B.  Moore,  Indian  Trader  and  Collector,  Crystal,  New  Mexico. 


ffitttl?  ffialortga  nf  Nnrtlj  Am*rtratt  3lttiitan0 


THE  NAVAJOS 


BY 

OSCAR  H.  LIPPS 


CEDAR  RAPIDS,  IOWA 
THE  TORCH  PRESS 
::  ::  ::  1909  ::  ::  :: 


Copyright   1909 
By  Oscar  H.  Lipps 


FOREWORD 

Little  Histories  of  North  American  Indians  is 
designed  to  give  in  plain  and  simple  form  a  concise 
and  authentic  history  of  the  North  American  Indians 
by  tribes.  So  far,  most  of  the  literature  giving  relia- 
ble accounts  of  the  life,  manners,  customs,  habits, 
religion,  mythology,  arts,  and  crafts  of  the  various 
Indian  tribes  of  our  country  is  contained  chiefly  in 
government  reports  and  in  scientific  works  which  are 
either  not  readily  accessible  to  the  reading  public,  or 
are  too  scientific  and  technical  to  be  enjoyable  and 
entertaining  to  the  average  general  reader.  The  aim, 
then,  is  a  popular  and  reliable  little  history  of  our 
North  American  Indians  which  will,  in  a  measure, 
satisfy  the  ever  increasing  desire  on  the  part  of 
Americans  for  a  more  intimate  knowledge  of  the  ' '  first 
of  all  Americans." 

It  has  not  been  the  intention  to  present  in  this 
little  book  —  the  first  of  the  series  —  any  new  facts 
concerning  the  Navajos,  but  rather  to  bring  together 
the  facts  already  known  of  the  tribe. 

While  not  intended  as  a  contribution  to  ethnolog- 
ical or  anthropological  science,  still  it  has  been  the  con- 
stant aim  of  the  author  to  confine  his  statements  to  the 


facts,  and  to  this  end  no  pains  have  been  spared  in 
consulting  acknowledged  authorities  on  the  subject, 
all  of  which  have  been  given  credit  throughout  the 
pages  of  the  book. 

0.  H.  L. 

Nez  Perces  Indian  Agency 
Fort  Lapwai,  Idaho 
September  21,  1908 


FROM    THE    COMMISSIONER   OF   INDIAN    AFFAIRS 

Washington,  Oct.  1,  1908. 
My  dear  Mr.  Lipps: 

I  am  more  than  pleased  at  what  you  tell  me  of  the 
design  of  your  booklet  on  the  Navajos  —  your  hope 
that  it  might  result  in  drawing  from  other  writers 
similar  little  books  on  different  Indian  tribes.  They 
would  make  a  collection  of  value  to  that  part  of  the 
public  who  take  an  interest  in  the  history  of  our 
aborigines  without  having  the  time  at  command  to 
study  the  more  elaborate  and  ambitious  works  on  the 
subject. 

Hoping  with  you  that  your  essay  may  prove  only 
the  first  of  a  series,  I  am 

Sincerely  yours, 

FRANCIS  E.  LEUPP. 


CONTENTS 

Page 
CHAPTER  I.     THEIR  DISCOVERY     .         .         . '         15 

Westward  the  Course  of  Conquest  Takes  its 
Way  —  Spanish  Explorers  Discover  the  Indians 
of  the  Southwest. 

CHAPTER  II.     THEIR  COUNTRY      ...  21 

A  Desert  Country  —  Their  Eeservation  —  A  Sum- 
mer Day  in  Navajo  Land  —  Cliff  Dwellings 
and  Ancient  Kuins. 

CHAPTER  III.     THE  PEOPLE         ...  32 

Early  History  —  Evidence  of  a  Pre-Historie  Eace 

—  Government. 

CHAPTER  IV.     THEIR  MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS          40 

A  Pastoral  People  —  Their  Home  —  Their  Do- 
mestic Life  —  Marriage  —  The  Wedding  Cere- 
mony —  Slavery  —  The  Medicine-man  —  The 
Discipline  of  their  Life  —  Games  and  Sports  — 
.The  Burial. 

CHAPTER  V.     WARS  AND  TREATIES         .         .  50 

As  Warriors  —  Kit  Carson  —  The  Last  Navajo 
War  —  General  Sibley  Invades  New  Mexico  — 
The  Proclamation  —  Causes  of  Indian  Wars  — 
Their  Capture  —  The  Bosque  Eedondo  —  Their 
Eeturn  to  the  Eeservation  —  Treaties. 

CHAPTER  VI.     THEIR  RELIGION  AND  MORALS  .  63 

A  Pantheist  —  Superstition  — Morals. 

CHAPTER  VII.     NAVAJO  MYTHOLOGY     .         .          67 

Myth  and  Tradition  —  Some  Navajo  Myths. 

CHAPTER  VIII.     CEREMONIES        ...  74 

Ha-tal-i  —  The  Mountain  Chant  —  The  Fire  Play 

—  Sand  Paintings. 


CHAPTER  IX.     THEIR  ARTS  AND  CRAFTS        .  81 

History   of   the  Art   of  Weaving  — The  Pesh-li- 
kai,  or  Silversmith. 

CHAPTER  X.     CIVILIZATION  ....  94 

As  Viewed  by  the  White  Man  —  His  Progress  — 
His    Future. 


APPENDIX 

Page 

THE  NAVAJO  INDIANS  AND  THEIR  COUNTRY     .         101 
Affidavit   of  General  James  H.   Carleton,   U.  S. 
Army. 

CAUSES  OP  THE  NAVAJO  WARS.     SLAVERY        .         106 
Affidavit  of  Chief  Justice  Kirby  Benedict. 

THE  TROUBLE  BETWEEN  THE  NAVAJOS  AND  THE 
SOLDIERS  ......  110 

Affidavit  of  Colonel  Collins. 

A  NAVAJO  SUPERSTITION  LEADS  TO  THE  KILLING 

OP  A  NEGRO  SLAVE    .         .         .         .         .         113 

Affidavit  of  Dr.  Louis  Kennon. 

APPOINTMENT  OP  INDIAN  AGENTS.    TREATMENT 

OP  THE  NAVAJOS  BY  MEXICANS  .         .         .         115 

Affidavit  of  Major  Griner. 

PLANS  OP  THE  MILITARY  TO  SUBJUGATE  THE 
NAVAJOS  .        .         .         .  .         .         118 

Official  Letter  of  General  Carleton. 

KIT  CARSON  INVADES  THE  NAVAJOS'  STRONG- 
HOLD   120 

Official  Report  of  General  Carleton. 

KIT  CARSON  RECEIVES  HONORABLE  MENTION     .         121 

Official  Report  of  General  Carleton. 

REPORT  OP  THE  CONDITION  OP  THE  NAVAJO 
PRISONERS  OP  WAR  AT  THE  BOSQUE  REDONDO, 
NEW  MEXICO 122 

Official  Report  of  General  Carleton. 

TWENTY  YEARS  AFTER  THE  WAR.  REPORT  OP 
THE  UNITED  STATES  INDIAN  AGENT  ON  THE 
CONDITION  OP  THE  NAVAJOS  .  .  .  128 

By  C.  E.  Vandeaver,  U.  S.  Indian  Agent. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


A  NAVAJO  BLANKET  ....  Frontispiece 
(Courtesy,  J.  B.  Moore) 

A  NAVAJO  PATRIARCH        .         .         .  facing    16 

MAP  OF  NAVAJO  RESERVATION      .         .  facing    24 

CLIFF  DWELLERS'  SANDALS         .         .  facing    32 

A  CLIFF  DWELLING   ....  facing    40 

(Courtesy,  The  Southern  Workman) 

A  NAVAJO  WOMAN  IN  NATIVE  DRESS    .  facing    48 

NAVAJO  INDIANS  TRADING  .         .         .  facing    56 

(Courtesy,  U.  S.  Hollister) 

NAVAJO  WEAVERS       ....  facing    60 

A  NAVAJO  WINTER  HOGAN         .         .  facing    64 

(Courtesy,  The  Southern  Workman) 

A  NAVAJO  HEAD  MAN         .         .         .  facing    72 

A  NAVAJO  SILVERSMITH      .         .         .  facing    80 

NAVAJO  WOMEN  SHEARING  SHEEP        .  facing    88 

NAVAJO  JEWELRY  AND  SILVERWARE      .  facing    92 

(Courtesy,  J.  B.  Moore) 

NAVAJO  AGENCY  AND  SCHOOL,  FORT  DEFI- 
ANCE, ARIZONA       ....  facing    96 
A  NAVAJO  WEAVER    ....  facing  104 

NAVAJO  SHEPHERDS    ....  facing  112 
(Courtesy,  The  Southern  Workman) 

CROSSING  THE  DESERT         .         .         .  facing  120 
(Courtesy,  The  Southern  Workman) 

A  NAVAJO  ATHLETE  ....  facing  128 


A  LITTLE  HISTORY  OF  THE  NAVAJOS 

CHAPTER  I 
Their  Discovery 

From    the    accession    of    the    house    of    Tras- 
tamara,    about   the    middle    of   the    fourteenth    cen- 
tury, Spain  dates  the  rise  of 

Westward  the         her  greatness  as  a  world  pow- 
Course  of  Conquest    er.    In  the  tenth  and  eleventh 

takes  its  Way         centuries    the    Mohammedans 
flourished    and    prospered    in 

the  southern  part  of  the  peninsula,  and  the  Moorish 
kingdom  of  Granada  bore  witness  to  a  civilization 
far  more  brilliant  and  splendid  than  Christian  Spain 
had  hitherto  been  able  to  present.  Here  the  lamps 
of  learning  were  kept  burning  while  all  the  rest  of 
western  Europe  groped  in  darkness,  and  here  the 
Arabian  philosophers  had  transplanted  the  sciences 
of  the  East  from  whence  they  found  their  way  be- 
yond the  Pyrenees  and  the  Rhine,  and  pene- 
trated the  land  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  across  the 
English  Channel.  Meanwhile,  Spain  had  accom- 
plished little  that  goes  to  make  a  wise  and  powerful 
nation. 

However,  in  the  course  of  events,  Spain  evolved 
into  a  nation.  In  the  year  1469  Aragon  and  Castile 
were  united  in  one  kingdom  by  the  marriage  of 


16  THE  NAVAJOS 

Ferdinand,  surnamed  the  Catholic,  and  Isabella. 
Ferdinand,  while  possessing  ability,  was  both  a  bigot 
and  a  despot;  Isabella  was  his  faithful  consort.  His 
overbearing  spirit  and  intolerant  mind  found  fitting 
expression  in  the  cruel  deeds  of  the  bloody  Inqui- 
sition. His  bitter  persecution  of  the  Jews  was  no 
less  cruel  and  unrelenting  than  was  his  hatred  for 
the  Moors  and  heretics.  The  meek  and  unoffending 
Israelites  were  banished  to  the  number  of  hundreds 
of  thousands,  and  their  property  confiscated.  Naked 
and  utterly  helpless,  they  submissively  turned  their 
faces  to  other  countries,  seeking  refuge  in  Portugal, 
France,  Italy,  and  the  East.  This  act  was  a  great 
blow  to  the  future  affluence  of  Spain.  The  boom- 
erang returned  to  paralyze  the  hand  that  sent  it. 
The  nation's  life  blood  had  been  drained  out. 
Thrifty  enterprise  waned  and  the  life  of  trade  with- 
ered and  died.  The  springs  of  the  nation's  com- 
merce, being  thus  deprived  of  their  source,  ran  putrid 
for  a  while,  the.n-  dried  up  altogether.  The  Moorish 
Granada  was  also  taken  by  the  Christians  and  three 
millions  of  her  people  fled  to  Africa  and  the  East. 
The  hope  of  the  nation  had  departed  —  both  glory  and 
gold  had  vanished.  New  worlds  must  now  be  con- 
quered and  new  sources  of  revenue  added  to  her  pos- 
sessions. 

Christopher  Columbus  now  arrived  upon  the 
scene,  discovered  a  new  world  and  thus  saved  the 
day  for  Spain.  The  hope  of  the  nation  lay 
beyond  the  Atlantic.  Turning  her  eyes  to  the  West, 
with  sword  in  one  hand  and  crucifix  in  the  other. 


A  Navajo  Patriarch 


THE  NAVAJOS  17 

she  bid  priest  and  soldier  embark  for  the  New 
World.  Knighthood  was  in  flower  and  the  spirit 
of  conquest  the  all-absorbing  passion  —  the  seeking 
of  gold  and  the  saving  of  souls  the  objects  of 
adventure. 

And  lo!  westward  the  course  of  Spanish  con- 
quest took  its  way. 

In  1493,  the  year  after  the  discovery  of  the 

New  World,  Pope  Alexander  VI  issued  his  famous 

Bull  of  Demarcation,  in  which 

Spanish  explorers      he  gave  to  Spain  all  that  por- 

discover  the  Indians    tion  of  undiscovered  country 

of  the  Southwest      lying    beyond    an    imaginary 

line  one  hundred  miles  west 

of  the  Azores  and  the  Cape  Verde  Islands.  Upon 
this  Spain  based  her  claims  to  the  New  World. 

Not  until  1513  did  European  explorers  venture 
into  the  interior  of  North  America.  Previous  to  this 
time  they  had  merely  touched  upon  the  shores  of  the 
great  western  continent.  The  great  beyond  appeared 
to  them  dark,  void,  and  impenetrable.  Balboa  in  that 
year  crossed  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  and  six  years 
later  Cortez  landed  on  the  east  coast  of  Mexico. 

The  same  year  that  Cortez  set  out  to  explore 
Mexico  (1519),  Pineda,  another  Spanish  explorer, 
sailed  through  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  skirting  the 
shores  of  the  continent  from  Florida  to  the  province 
of  Mexico.  He  soon  returned  to  Spain,  giving  glowing 
accounts  of  all  he  had  seen.  He  told  DeNarvaez  about 
the  natives  he  had  found  in  the  lower  Mississippi 


18  THE  NAVAJOS 

valley;  how  gaudily  they  were  attired;  how 
they  were  in  gold  and  precious  gems.  Excited 
by  these  alluring  descriptions  of  the  Mississippi  In- 
dians and  their  brilliant  golden  ornaments,  DeNar- 
vaez  set  out  in  1528  with  an  expedition  to  explore 
and  conquer  that  portion  of  the  country  lying  to 
the  north  and  west  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

He  passed  through  Louisiana  and  Texas  and 
wandered  westward,  crossing  the  Rio  Grande,  pass- 
ing through  Chihuahua  and  Sonora,  and  arriving  at 
Culiacan,  through  which  he  passed,  reaching  the 
west  coast  in  1536.  When  he  returned  to  Spain  his 
account  of  the  wonderful  country  over  which  he 
had  traveled,  and  of  the  more  wonderful  people  he 
had  encountered  on  the  way,  aroused  a  keen  desire 
in  the  adventurous  Spaniards  to  make  more  thorough 
explorations.  They  believed  that  somewhere  in  this 
wonderful  country  would  be  found  the  Foun- 
tain of  Youth,  and  what  was  still  more  to  be  desired, 
the  fabled  Seven  Cities  which  they  believed  to  con- 
tain vast  stores  of  piled-up  wealth. 

One  of  the  Indian  tribes  of  the  Southwest  had 
preserved  a  story  of  Seven  Caves  in  which  they 
said  their  ancestors  once  lived  long  years  before, 
and  the  Spaniards  thought  these  to  be  the  legendary 
Seven  Cities.  Believing  them  to  be  located  some- 
where to  the  north,  the  Spanish  governor  of  Mexico, 
Mendoza,  sent  forth  Fray  Marcos,  a  Catholic  monk, 
with  a  few  followers  in  search  of  them.  He  passed, 
en  route,  through  a  number  of  Indian  villages,  in 
each  of  which  he  was  directed  to  the  north.  He 


THE  NAVAJOS  19 

arrived  at  last  in  sight  of  the  pueblo  village  of 
Zuni,  New  Mexico,  located  about  forty  miles  south 
of  the  present  town  of  Gallup,  and  still  the  home 
of  the  Zuni  Indians.  There  were  at  this  time, 
it  is  said,  seven  of  these  pueblos  comprising  the 
village,  all  of  which  were  inhabited.  Advance 
guards  were  sent  forward  on  a  reconnoitering  expe- 
dition to  meet  the  chief  of  the  tribe  and  announce 
the  arrival  of  the  exploring  party.  They  never  re- 
turned and  it  is  supposed  they  were  killed  by  the 
Indians.  Fray  Marcos  became  greatly  frightened 
at  this  unkindly  reception  and  hurriedly  returned 
to  Mexico,  having  only  viewed  the  Zuni  pueblos 
from  a  distance.  He  understood  the  name  of  the 
city  he  had  discovered  to  be  Cibola,  and  he  called 
these  seven  Zuni  pueblos  the  Seven  Cities  of  Cibola. 

An  ancient  Spanish  legend  relates  that  many 
years  ago  when  the  Arabs  overran  the  Spanish 
peninsula  and  took  captive  the  town  of  Lisbon, 
a  certain  priest  of  that  town  fled  with  many  follow- 
ers to  a  group  of  islands  located  somewhere  in  the 
Sea  of  Darkness  where  he  founded  seven  cities. 
These  cities,  so  the  legend  relates,  contained  hidden 
treasures  of  untold  wealth.  If  they  might  only  find 
the  fabled  stream  to  drink  from  which  meant  life  and 
love  and  youth  and  beauty,  and  then  discover  these 
hidden  cities  of  stored-up  wealth,  their  happiness 
would  be  complete  and  the  millennium  be  at  hand. 

In  1540,  the  year  following  the  return  of  Fray 
Marcos  to  Mexico,  Francisco  de  Coronado  marched 
against  the  Zuni  Indians  with  three  hundred  soldiers 


20  THE  NAVAJOS 

and  eight  hundred  Mexican  Indians.  On  arriving 
at  Zuni  he  discovered  that  Fray  Marcos  had 
seen  only  an  Indian  village  and  not  the  fabled  Seven 
Cities.  From  Zuni  Coronado  sent  Pedro  de  Tobar, 
Juan  de  Padilla  and  about  twenty  men  to  discover 
Tusayan  (Moqui).  On  their  way  thither  they  passed 
through  the  country  of  the  Navajo  Indians.  They 
visited  the  Hopi  villages  of  Oraibi  and  Walpi  and 
there  heard  about  a  great  river  beyond.  Eeturning 
to  Zuni  they  reported  this  to  Coronado  who  imme- 
diately sent  out  Lopez  de  Cardenas  with  twelve  men 
to  find  this  river.  And  thus  was  discovered  the  Grand 
Canyon  of  the  Colorado. 

And  from  this  also  comes  our  first  knowledge  of 
the  Navajos. 


CHAPTEE  II 
Their  Country 

V   What  variegated  and  wonderful  formations  we 

encounter  in  traveling  one  hundred  miles  overland 

across  this  rugged,  ragged,  desert 

A  Desert  Country    country!     The  whole  landscape 

presents    a    spectacle    of    deep 

sepulchral  gloom.     Old  ocean  beds,  piled-up  debris 

of  volcanic  eruptions  and  the  remains  of  pre-historic 

ages  are  everywhere  to  be  seen. 

If  what  geologists  tell  us  of  the  formation  of  the 
earth  be  true  —  that  the  vast  mountains  of  piled-up 
strata  are  of  sedimentary  formation  —  then  the  pro- 
cess of  infiltration  through  which  these  immense  piles 
of  stone  have  gone  in  forming,  must  have  required 
ages  of  time. 

Something  over  5,000  years  ago  we  find  the  Chal- 
dean monarchy  at  the  height  of  its  affluence  and 
power.  The  great  level  plain  between  the  Tigris  and 
the  Euphrates  rivers  was  interlaced  with  a  net-work 
of  irrigating  canals,  and  the  luxuriant  growth  of 
grain  and  vegetation  in  this  great  alluvial  valley  ex- 
cited the  wonder  and  admiration  of  the  Greeks  so 
that  the  historian,  Herodotus,  like  our  own  Horace 
Greeley  when  writing  about  the  large  trees  of  Cali- 
fornia, would  not  tell  the  whole  truth  for  fear  his 
veracity  might  be  doubted.  The  Assyrian  and  Baby- 


22  THE  NAVAJOS 

Ionian  empires  successively  rose  and  fell  in  the  land 
of  the  ancient  Chaldeans,  and  the  country  where  the 
hanging  gardens  of  Babylon  once  spread  their  rich 
perfumes  over  a  land  of  emerald  green,  to-day  pre- 
sents a  scene  as  ruined  and  desolate  as  that  of  our  own 
dry,  sand-choked  desert  of  the  great  Southwest. 

To  the  speculative  mind  the  comparison  might 
suggest  the  possibility  of  a  time,  in  years  vastly  re- 
mote, when  this  old  dry  desert  of  Navajo  land  pre- 
sented a  very  different  appearance,  and  supported  a 
population  well  advanced  in  the  arts  and  sciences  of 
civilization. 

Situated  in  the  northeastern  portion  of  Arizona 

and  in  the  northwestern  part  of  New  Mexico  is  the 

Navajo  reservation,  now  the  larg- 

Their  Reservation    est   Indian   reservation   in   the 

United     States,     comprising    as 

it  does  nearly  ten  million   acres,   or  nearly  fifteen 

thousand  square  miles,   being  equal  in   size  to  the 

combined  areas  of  Massachusetts,   Connecticut,   and 

Ehode  Island. 

The  home  of  the  Navajo  Indian  has  always  been 
considered  one  of  the  most  arid  and  barren  portions 
of  the  Great  American  Desert.  The  average  rainfall 
in  this  region  is  from  ten  to  fourteen  inches,  and 
is  usually  confined  to  two  short  seasons.  The  valleys 
and  lower  levels  are  destitute  of  trees,  save  for  the 
cottonwoods  that  fringe  the  banks  oi;  the  arroyas  and 
running  streams,  though  the  mesas  and  mountains  are 
fairly  well  covered  with  piny  on,  cedar,  oak,  juniper, 


THE  NAVAJOS  23 

white  pine,  and  spruce.  The  elevation  is  from  four  to 
ten  thousand  feet  above  sea  level,  with  an  attendant 
climate  unsuited  to  the  luxuriant  growth  of  vegeta- 
tion. The  yucca,  cactus,  sage  brush,  gramma  grass, 
and  a  few  weeds  and  wild  flowers  are  to  be  found  in  the 
valleys  and  on  the  lower  plateaus,  while  much  of  the 
country  is  a  barren  waste  with  few  running  streams 
or  springs  and  with  little  else  to  invite  either  man  or 
beast. 

The  country  is  extremely  diversified  in  character, 
consisting  as  it  does  of  broad  valleys  and  rolling  prai- 
ries in  the  northern  and  western  portions  along  the 
San  Juan  and  Colorado  rivers,  while  the  eastern  and 
southeastern  portions  are  greatly  broken  by  deep  can- 
yons, towering  mountains,  elevated  table  lands,  and 
irregular,  broken  valleys.  Vast  strata  of  bituminous 
coal  extend  north  and  south  through  almost  the  entire 
length  of  the  reservation,  some  veins  being  thirty 
feet  in  thickness.  No  precious  metals  or  other  min* 
erals  of  value  have  ever  been  discovered  in  this  ter- 
ritory. 

Owing  to  the  high  altitude,  the  winters  are  long 
and  cold  and  the  season  for  growing  and  maturing 
crops  is  correspondingly  short.  A  little  corn,  wheat, 
oats  and  alfalfa,  and  a  variety  of  vegetables  are  grown 
in  the  valleys  where  water  can  be  had  for  irrigating. 
In  many  of  the  valleys  fruit  culture  can  be  carried 
on  with  profit,  but  since  his  peach  orchards  were 
laid  waste  by  the  soldiers  forty  years  ago,  the  Navajo 
has  paid  little  or  no  attention  to  the  growing  of  fruit. 


24  THE  NAVAJOS 

His  staple  agricultural  product  is  Indian  corn.  If 
he  can  only  raise  a  crop  of  corn  his  sustenance  is  as- 
sured for  the  year. 

Although  a  sun-burnt  desert  of  sand,  sage  brush, 
cactus,  and  piled-up  debris  of  great  volcanic  eruptions, 
the  Navajo  country  is  a  land  of  enchantment.  Here 
Nature  seems  to  have  forgotten  her  modesty  and  laid 
bare  to  vulgar  gaze  the  inmost  recesses  of  her  anatomy| 
Her  very  vitals,  loose  and  dismembered,  lie  in  massive, 
mournful  state  where  they  were  expelled  centuries 
ago  by  the  mighty  power  of  some  pent-up  energy  or 
internal  strife.  Vast  beds  of  lava  and  masses  of  melt- 
ed rock  and  minerals  lie  everywhere  in  huge 
mountains.  The  traveler  in  Navajo  land,  gazing  on 
the  form  of  a  world  in  the  making,  finds  himself 
transported  to  another  planet,  as  it  were,  ere  he  is 
aware.  Here  he  sees  written,  as  if  by  the  fingers  of 
Divinity,  the  story  of  the  creation ;  and  as  he  views 
the  mighty,  massive,  wonderfully  illustrated  and  awe- 
inspiring  pages  of  Nature's  book,  as  it  lies  opened 
before  his  vision,  he  sees  not  God  in  burning  bush, 
but  rather  meets  him  face  to  face. 

The  white  man  is  out  of  place  in  this  veritable 
holy  of  holies.  Unlike  the  native  red  man  he  does 
not  adorn  and  beautify  the  nude  landscape.  At  the 
approaching  footsteps  of  civilization  Nature  seems  to 
seek  seclusion  in  the  pavilion  of  her  own  magnifi- 
cent mazes,  and  to  reserve  her  beauty  and  her 
smiles  for  her  own  children  and  sympathetic  wor- 
shipers. And  if  it  be  true  that  man  is  happy  in 
proportion  as  he  is  in  harmony  with  his  sur- 


Map  of  Navajo  Reservation 


26  THE  NAVAJOS 

And  now  everything  is  bathed  in  sunshine.  The 
snow  glistens  on  the  peaks;  the  odor  of  pine  and  of 
cedar  fills  the  air;  the  pure  ozone  tempts  the  lungs  to 
full  expansion.  The  world  of  wilderness  is  awake. 

And  this  is  Morning  in  Navajo  land. 

As  the  noontime  approaches,  the  sun  seems  to 
pause  overhead,  when,  in  a  dome  of  purest  blue,  it 
glows  and  burns  and  parches  the  earth ;  but  under  its 
influence,  the  valleys  have  revealed  their  wealth  of 
wild  flowers,  cactus,  sage  and  bright  leafed  shrubs  that 
rival  the  barbaric  colors  of  oriental  drapery.  The 
mountains,  with  their  gleaming  caps  of  snow,  stand 
out  in  strong  relief,  in  blue  and  gray  and  purple  tints, 
and  in  ever  shifting  lights  and  shadows.  An  eagle, 
slowly  and  in  great  circles,  soars  high  in  the  blue 
sky.  A  coyote  calls  to  his  mate  across  the  miles  be- 
tween mesa  and  mesa,  or,  in  shade  of  cedar,  idles  or 
naps  the  day  away  —  lazy  vagabond  waiting  for  the 
night.  On  a  distant  trail,  a  Navajo  on  horse-back, 
watching  his  sheep,  shades  his  eyes  and  looks  across 
the  valley  into  the  vast  expanse  of  light,  and  in  the 
distance  he  can  see  the  smoke  from  the  hut  he  calls 
home.  He  looks  at  the  grandeur  of  the  whole  scene 
through  the  rarefied  air  of  an  elevation  of  more  than 
a  mile  above  the  sea,  through  an  atmosphere  which, 
acting  like  the  lense  of  a  telescope,  brings  far  distant 
objects  within  easy  range.  The  great  panorama  of 
mountain  and  plain,  of  mesa  and  valley,  of  arroya  and 
canyon,  shaded  here  and  there  by  pine  and  cedar, 
dwarfs  every  living  thing.  The  stillness  is  the  still- 
ness of  solitude,  the  beauty,  the  beauty  of  Nature 
undefiled. 

And  this  is  Mid-day  in  Navajo  land. 

As  the  afternoon  grows  old,  the  glare  fades;  and 
the  sun,  touching  the  rugged  horizon,  casts  long  shad- 
ows across  the  plains ;  and  then  like  a  blazing  meteor, 
drops  out  of  sight  behind  the  snow  capped  mountains. 


THE  NAVAJOS  27 

Now  turn  your  eyes  to  the  west  and  look  upon 
the  glorious  beauty  of  a  sunset  in  a  strange  land. 
The  peaks  stand  out  like  sentinels  guarding  the  re- 
treat of  day,  and  a  blaze  of  light  whitens  the  sun- 
ward side  of  those  to  the  right  and  to  the  left.  Frag- 
ments of  gathering  clouds,  floating  above  in  a  sea  of 
azure  in  which  are  blended  tints  of  gray  and  green 
and  yellow,  are  rich  with  the  colors  of  red  and  gold 
and  scarlet  and  purple  which  shift  and  change  before 
our  gaze  as  the  misty  masses  drift  with  the  evening 
breeze.  Through  this  wealth  of  brilliant  colors  and 
mingled  hues  and  tints,  the  sun  projects  its  rays  in 
fan-like  form  far  into  space,  the  shafts  and  beams  of 
light  illuminating  the  whole,  and  completing  a  rare 
picture  of  magnificence  that  inspires  feelings  of  rever- 
ence and  humility  in  those  who  look  upon  it.  You  close 
your  eyes  and  wonder  if  anything  else  of  this  world 
can  be  so  beautiful.  The  fiery  glory  behind  the  moun- 
tains dies  down,  but  twilight  lingers  long  as  it  slowly 
yields  its  beauty  to  the  gathering  shades  of  night. 

And  this  is  Evening  in  Navajo  land. 

One  after  another  the  stars  appear;  slowly  and 
shyly  at  first,  one  here  and  one  there;  then  springing 
into  myriads  all  at  once.  The  rising  moon  is  hidden 
by  the  mountains,  and  her  soft  white  light  reflected 
on  the  clouds  that  float  around  and  above  the  peaks, 
transforms  them  into  masses  of  white  and  gold.  As 
we  stand  in  the  deep  shadow,  the  mountains  are  out- 
lined in  frosted  silver  by  the  light  of  the  moon  that 
we  can  not  see,  and  with  this  and  the  hues  of  the 
illuminated  clouds  before  us,  the  grandly  beautiful 
scene  is  like  the  one  we  associate  with  the  work  of 
enchantment  —  a  most  wonderful  combination  of 
moonlight  effects  in  the  mountain  region  of  Navajo 
land.  As  she  rises  the  moon's  rim  comes  into  view 
where  two  mountains  look  at  each  other  across  a  can- 
yon ;  and  peering  through  this  notch  in  the  range,  she 


28  THE  NAVAJOS 

seems  to  be  asking  '  '  Is  it  night  ?  May  I  come  1  '  '  But 
without  awaiting  our  bidding  she  presents  herself  in 
all  her  splendor  ;  and  the  mountains  and  the  cliffs  and 
the  villages  —  all  the  wide  landscape  around  us,  are 
flooded  with  her  light  and  do  homage  to  her  majesty, 
the  Queen  of  Night  —  the  Indian's  Mother  of  all 
Mankind. 

The  soughing  of  the  pines  as  they  are  stirred  by 
the  rising  breeze,  is  like  the  murmur  of  a  distant  sea, 
and  warns  us  that  the  Storm  King  has  had  his  battle 
array  of  thunder  clouds  hidden  behind  the  mountains. 
Now,  as  he  leads  them  over  the  range,  the  wind  rustles 
down  the  gorges,  whirls  around  the  foot-hills,  and 
sweeps  across  the  mesas  and  through  the  canyons, 
raising  great  billows  of  dust.  "The  air  is  tremulous 
with  the  energy  of  the  approaching  storm."  Sud- 
denly all  is  quiet  ;  but  soon  the  great  rain-drops  begin 
to  fall  —  big  warm  tears  of  the  clouds.  Thicker  and 
faster  they  come  until  the  land  is  drenched,  and  new- 
made  rivers  roar  in  the  canyons  and  flood  the  arroyas 
with  their  turbid  waters.  The  clouds  have  swept  over 
us,  and  in  the  silvery  light  that  fills  the  night,  we 
watch  the  retreating  storm  and  hear  the  distant,  sullen 
thunder  that  rumbles  like  the  cannonading  of  a  re- 
tiring army  that  has  spent  its  strength.  Far  away 
dull  flashes  of  lightning  still  tell  of  the  storm  that  is 
gone  ;  but  the  moon  and  the  stars  seem  brighter  than 
before,  though  low  in  the  east  is  a  touch  of  the  faint 
first  glow  that  heralds  the  coming  of  another  day. 


_.    And  this  was  a  Summer  Day  in  Navajp  lapj^ 

Reared  amid  such  scenes  as  these,  where  all  Na-      \, 
ture  cries  aloud  in  a  thousand  different  voices,  and 
speaks  to  him  in  prophetic  tongues  tuned  to  the  key- 
note of  Divinity,  what  wonder  that  the  Navajo, 


THE  NAVAJOS  29 

With  untutored  mind 

Sees  God  in  the  clouds, 

Or  hears  him  in  the  winds? 

And  who  among  us,  even  in  the  light  of  revelation, 
is  prepared  to  say  the  Navajo's  God  is  not  also  our 
God,  and  that  he  worships  Him  as  much  in  spirit 
and  in  truth  as  do  his  more  enlightened  white  broth- 
ers? In  the  mere  matter  of  form  of  worship,  may 
we  not  ask,  which  is  the  savage? 

Located  about  fifty  miles  north  of  Fort  Defiance, 
Arizona,  is  the  wonderful  canyon  de  Chelly    (pro- 
nounced de  Shay).    Nearly  two 

Cliff  Dwellings  and    hundred  ruins   have  been   lo- 

Ancient  Ruins          cated   in  this   canyon,   among 

them  some  very  large  villages. 

Some  are  located  high  up  in  the  recesses  of  the  can- 
yon's walls,  while  others  occupy  more  level  and  ac- 
cessible positions  at  the  bottom.  This  canyon  is  known 
as  one  of  the  ancient  homes  of  the  Cliff  Dwellers, 
and  ethnologists  have  visited  it  frequently  and  have 
made  numerous  excavations  in  the  hope  that  dis- 
coveries might  be  made  that  would  throw  some  light 
on  the  remarkable  little  people  who  built  their  homes 
in  the  almost  inaccessible  recesses  of  deep  canyons 
and  precipitous  walls. 

The  general  opinion  among  ethnologists  of  to-day, 
however,  is  not  as  has  generally  been  supposed,  that 
the  Aztecs  built  these  villages,  but  that  they  were 
built  by  the  ancestors  of  the  present  Pueblo  Indians. 
In  fact  there  is  much  to  lead  one  to  conclude  that 


30  THE  NAVAJOS 

their  assumption  is  justified  by  the  evidence.  In  this 
region  the  air  is  so  dry  and  the  atmosphere  so  pure, 
that  articles  buried  in  the  ground  will  continue  in 
a  state  of  preservation  for  a  remarkably  long  time. 
In  some  of  these  ancient  ruins  have  been  found  rooms 
arranged  very  much  like  a  Pueblo  house  of  the  present 
day.  Many  objects  of  every  day  use  in  present  day 
pueblos,  such  as  the  mealing  stone,  earthen  vessels, 
ornaments,  garments,  etc.,  have  been  found  in  these 
old  ruins.  Tons  of  pottery,  similar  to  that  made  at 
the  present  time  by  the  Pueblo  Indians,  have  been  un- 
earthed; also  in  the  graves  or  burial  cysts  have  been 
found  cotton  cloth,  sandals,  and  various  ceremonial  ar- 
ticles, similar  to  those  now  in  common  use  among  these 
Indians.  With  the  hundreds  of  such  specimens  that 
have  been  found  and  carefully  preserved,  it  is  possible 
to  reconstruct  the  rooms  of  many  of  the  old  cliff  dwell- 
ings and  ancient  ruins  so  that  almost  any  Pueblo  In- 
dian would  even  in  this  day  and  time  feel  himself  quite 
at  home  within  the  ancient  walls  of  the  house  of  his 
ancestors,  who  were  doubtless  its  inmates  perhaps 
thousands  of  years  ago. 

In  western  New  Mexico,  sixty-five  miles  north 
of  the  Santa  Fe  railroad,  in  Chaco  Canyon,  is  the 
famous  Pueblo  Bonito.  This  is  an  ancient  ruin  and 
was  partly  explored  by  the  Hyde  Exploring  Expedi- 
tion under  the  direction  of  Dr.  George  H.  Pepper, 
the  work  being  carried  on  for  the  American  Museum 
of  Natural  History.  This  pueblo  contains  some  five 
hundred  rooms  with  massive  outer  walls.  These 
ruins  are  about  five  hundred  feet  long  and  three 


THE  NAVAJOS  31 

hundred  feet  wide.  Over  fifty  thousand  genuine  tur- 
quoise beads,  pendants  and  ornaments  of  very  great 
value  were  found  in  one  of  the  rooms  of  this  pueblo. 
This  ruin,  and  such  ruins  as  those  which  are  to 
be  found  scattered  over  the  Navajo  country,  have  been 
accepted  by  some  as  evidences  that  the  land  now  oc- 
cupied by  the  Navajos  was  once  peopled  by  a  race 
concerning  whom  the  Navajos  have,  according  to  Dr. 
Pepper,  both  myths  and  traditions ;  a  people,  perhaps, 
more  skilled  in  the  arts  of  peace  and  war  than  were 
any  of  the  other  Indian  tribes  of  the  Southwest  before 
the  advent  of  the  white  man. 

Such,  then,  is  Navajo  land.     A  desert  "land  of 
little  rain;  of  canyon-rift  and  cactus-plain." 


CHAPTER  III 
The  People 

Little  is  definitely  known  of  the  early  history 
of  the  Navajo.  By  language  he  is  closely  related  to 
the  Apaches  and  to  the  many  other 
Early  History  tribes  speaking  the  Athapascan 
tongue.  He  has  a  faint  tradition 
of  a  home  farther  to  the  north,  but  whence  or  when 
he  came  to  his  present  abode  he  has  no  definite  knowl- 
edge or  tradition. 

The  word  " Navajo"  is  of  Spanish  origin,  and  is 
said  by  some  to  have  been  applied  by  the  Spanish 
invaders  to  that  portion  of  country  lying  along,  and 
contingent  to,  the  Little  Colorado  and  San  Juan 
rivers.  The  Spaniards  called  the  inhabitants  of  that 
region  "Apaches  de  Navajoa,"  probably  from  their 
resemblance  to  the  Apaches  with  whom  they  had 
previously  come  in  contact.  They  never  refer  to 
themselves  as  Navajos  except  when  in  conversation 
with  white  people.  They  call  themselves ."  Dene, ' '  or 
"Tinneh"  —  meaning  "the  people/'  and  they  believe 
themselves  to  be  far  superior  in  every  way  to  any 
other  tribe  of  Indians. 


Cliff  Dwellers'  Sandals 
More  than  1000  Years  Old 
(From  Photo  by  Hollister) 


THE  NAVAJOS  33 

There  is  abundant  testimony  in  the  numerous 
well  preserved  ruins,  that  years  before  the  Navajo 

came  to  his  present  home,  a  pre- 

Evidence  of  a       historic  people,  advanced  in  the 

Pre-historic  Race     ways    of    civilization,    dwelt    in 

this  region.  The  remains  of 
ancient  irrigating  canals  and  reservoirs  furnish 
evidence  that  a  people  once  tilled  the  soil  when 
natural  conditions  were  different  from  what  we 
now  find  them  in  the  Navajo  country.  Remains 
of  buildings  are  yet  to  be  seen  there  of  such 
design  and  proportions  as  would  indicate  the  pre- 
vious presence  of  a  people  skilled  in  architecture 
and  engineering.  Archaeologists  differ  as  to  the  con- 
clusions to  be  drawn  from  the  evidence  contained  in 
these  vast  ruins.  Some  are  of  the  opinion  that  the 
ancestors  of  the  present  Pueblo  Indians  were  the 
builders  of  structures  such  as  the  one  recently 
uncovered  at  Pueblo  Bonito,  New  Mexico.  Others 
contend  that  a  race  of  people  far  superior  in 
mental  and  physical  endowments  must  have  once  lived 
and  labored  where  now  the  Navajo  leads  his  peaceful 
flocks  in  quiet  solitude  over  a  ruined  and  desolate 
waste.  While  it  is  doubtful  if  we  shall  ever  know 
the  exact  truth  as  to  the  history  of  the  people  who 
have  so  indelibly  left  their  imprint  on  the  desert 
wastes,  still  to  many  it  will  ever  be  a  pleasant  occupa- 
tion to  speculate  as  to  the  probable  condition  of  those 
people  who,  for  aught  we  know,  may  have  been  proud- 
er than  the  grandees  of  Spain  and  more  chivalrous 
in  love  and  war  than  the  plumed  knights  of  early 


34  THE  NAVAJOS 

England.  And  who  knows  but  they  may  yet  be  the 
theme  that  in  some  future  day  will  inspire  a  Homer 
or  incite  a  Virgil  to  sing  in  deathless  song  the  glories 
of  another  and  more  illustrious  Ilium  or  the  prowess 
and  adventure  of  other  and  more  renowned  Trojans? 
It  is  generally  supposed  that  in  very  early  times 
the  Navajos  were  wild,  reckless,  roaming  Indians  with- 
out any  definite  or  limited  territory  they  called  their 
home.  Unlike  most  other  Indian  tribes,  there  appears 
to  be  no  fixed,  or  even  prevailing,  Navajo  type.  They 
vary  in  feature  and  stature,  from  the  tall,  lithe  men 
with  prominent  features  resembling  the  Sioux  or 
Cheyennes,  to  the  dwarfish,  timid  physiognomy  of  the 
effeminate  Pueblos,  with  almost  every  variety  between 
these  extremes.  The  Navajo  is  thought  to  have  been  a 
general  outlaw,  roaming  at  will  wherever  his  fancy  or 
love  for  adventure  might  lead  him,  seeking  at  all  times 
what  or  whom  he  might  devour.  He  continually 
waged  war  upon  the  more  peaceful  and  sedentary 
Pueblos  and  gradually  gathered  to  himself  the  lawless 
and  outcasts  of  other  tribes  with  whom  he  frequently 
came  in  contact.  These  in  time  he  assimilated,  almost 
completely  changing  his  character,  until  to-day,  after 
being  subjugated,  tamed  and  disciplined  by  United 
States  soldiers,  we  find  him  peace-loving  and  indus- 
trious, pursuing  the  quiet  industries  of  agriculture 
and  stock-raising.  For  three  hundred  years  or  more, 
he  has  occupied  his  present  country,  living  much  the 
same  to-day  as  he  did  three  centuries  ago.  His  char- 
acteristics and  racial  instincts  are  as  marked  in  him 


THE  NAVAJOS  35 

today  as  when  Coronado  led  the  Spanish  Invasion  into 
New  Mexico  in  1540. 


The  Navajo  Indians  are  wards  of  the  general 
Government  under  the  Department  of  the  Interior. 
The  Navajo  reservation  is  divided  into 
Government  districts  which  are  under  the  super- 
vision of  Indian  Superintendents,  with 
headquarters  at  Fort  Defiance,  Tuba,  Leupp  and 
Keam's  Canyon,  Arizona,  and  Shiprock,  New  Mexico, 
who  have  general  oversight  over  them,  and  who,  with 
Indian  police,  preserve  law  and  order  on  the  reserva- 
tion under  rules  prescribed  by  the  Commissioner  of 
Indian  Affairs. 

The  Navajos  have  no  head  chief,  but  they  have 
a  number  of  " head-men''  whom  they  recognize  as 
leaders,  generally  because  of  their  superior  qualities, 
character  and  integrity.  While  these  offices  are  often 
either  elective  or  hereditary,  still  they  are  not  always 
so.  The  office  of  "head-man"  usually  gravitates  to 
the  man  who  can  hold  it  —  a  natural  born  leader  of 
men. 

The  tribe  is  composed  of  several  gentes  or  clans, 
each  clan  having  its  leader,  or  head-man.  The  legends 
of  the  Navajos  contain  many  accounts  of  other  Indians 
being  adopted  into  the  tribe  and  intermarrying  among 
them  and  forming  new  gentes.  The  following  legend- 
ary account  of  how  the  Navajos  were  once  joined  by 
a  large  band  of  Indians  and  how  they  were  adopted 


36  THE  NAVAJOS 

into  the  tribe  is  taken  from  Dr.  Washington  Mat- 
thews's  Navajo  Legends: 

They  were  joined  on  the  San  Juan  by  a  numerous 
band  who  came  originally  from  a  place  called  Tha- 
paha-kal-kai  (White  Valley  among  the  Waters),  which 
is  where  the  city  of  Santa  Fe  now  stands.  These 
people  had  long  viewed  in  the  western  distance  the 
mountains  where  the  Navajos  /  dwelt,  wondering  if 
anyone  lived  there,  and  at  length  decided  to  go 
thither.  They  journeyed  westward  twelve  days  till 
they  reached  the  mountains,  and  they  spent  eight  days 
travelling  among  them  before  they  encountered  the 
Navajos.  Then  they  settled  at  Toindotsos  (place) 
and  lived  there  twelve  years,  subsisting  on  ducks  and 
fish,  but  making  no  farms.  All  this  time  they  were 
friendly  to  the  Navajos  and  exchanged  visits;  but, 
finding  no  special  evidence  of  relationship  with  the 
latter,  they  dwelt  apart.  When  at  length  they  came 
to  the  San  Juan  to  live,  marriages  had  taken  place 
between  the  two  tribes,  and  the  people  from  Among 
the  Waters  became  a  part  of  the  Navajo  nation,  form- 
ing the  gens  THA-PA-HA.  They  lived  at  a  place  called 
Hyietyin  (Trails  Leading  Upward),  close  to  the  Nav- 
ajos. There  was  a  smooth  sandy  plain,  which  they 
thought  would  be  good  for  farming,  and  the  Chief, 
whose  name  was  Gontso,  or  Big  Knee,  had  stakes  set 
around  the  plain  to  show  that  his  people  claimed  it. 
The  people  of  the  new  gens  were  good  hunters,  skilled 
in  making  weapons  and  beautiful  buck-skin  shirts,  and 
they  taught  their  art  to  the  other  gentes. 

The  Tha-pa-ha  then  spoke  a  language  more  like 
the  modern  Navajo  than  that  which  the  other  gentes 
spoke.  The  languages  were  not  alike.  The  chief  of 
the  Tsin-ad-zi-ni  and  Gontso  often  visited  one  another 
at  night,  year  after  year,  for  the  purpose  of  uniting 


THE  NAVAJOS  37 

the  two  languages  and  picking  out  the  words  in  each 
that  were  best.  But  the  words  of  the  Tha-pa-ha  were 
usually  the  best  and  plainest;  so  the  new  language 
resembles  the  Tha-pa-ha  more  than  it  resembles  the 
Old  Navajo. 

While  the  Tha-pa-ha  lived  at  Hyietyin  they  had 
always  abundant  crops,  —  better  crops  than  their 
neighbors  had,  sometimes  they  could  not  harvest  all 
they  raised,  and  let  food  lie  ungathered  in  the  field. 
They  built  stone  store-houses,  something  like  pueblo 
houses,  among  the  cliffs,  and  in  these  stored  their 
corn.  The  store  houses  stand  there  yet.  The  Tha-pa- 
ha  remained  at  Hyietyin  thirteen  years,  during  which 
time  many  important  events  occurred,  and  then  they 
moved  to  Azdeltsigi. 

Gontso  had  twelve  wives ;  four  of  these  were  from 
the  gens  of  Tsinadzini,  four  from  the  gens  of  Dsiltlani, 
and  four  from  the  gens  of  Thanezani.  He  used  to 
give  much  grain  from  his  abundant  harvests  to  the 
gentes  to  which  his  wives  belonged;  but,  in  spite  of 
his  generosity,  his  wives  were  unfaithful  to  him.  He 
complained  to  their  relations  and  to  their  chiefs,  these 
remonstrated  with  the  wives,  but  failed  to  improve 
their  ways.  At  last  they  lost  patience  with  the  women 
and  said  to  Gontso ;  ' '  Do  with  them  as  you  will.  We 
will  not  interfere. ' '  So  the  next  wife  whom  he  detect- 
ed in  crime,  he  mutilated  in  a  shameful  way,  and  she 
died  in  consequence.  He  cut  off  the  ears  of  the  next 
transgressor,  and  she,  too,  died.  He  amputated  the 
breasts  of  the  third  wife  who  offended  him,  and  she 
died  also.  He  cut  off  the  nose  of  the  fourth ;  she  did 
not  die.  He  determined  then  that  cutting  off  the  nose 
should,  in  future,  be  the  greatest  punishment  imposed 
on  the  faithless  wife,  —  something  that  would  dis- 
figure but  not  kill,  —  and  the  rest  of  the  people  agreed 
with  him.  But  this  had  no  effect  on  the  remaining 


38  THE  NAVAJOS 

wives ;  they  continued  to  lapse  from  virtue  till  all  were 
noseless.  Then  they  got  together  and  began  to  plot 
mischief  against  their  husband,  Big  Knee.  They 
spoke  so  openly  of  their  evil  intentions  that  he  feared 
to  let  any  of  them  stay  in  the  lodge  at  night  and  he 
slept  alone. 

About  this  time  the  people  determined  to  have 
a  great  ceremony  for  the  benefit  of  Big  Knee ;  so  they 
made  great  preparations  and  held  a  rite  of  nine  days 
duration.  During  its  progress  the  mutilated  women 
remained  in  a  hut  by  themselves,  and  talked  about  the 
unkindness  of  their  people  and  the  vengeance  due 
to  their  husband.  They  said  one  to  another:  "We 
should  leave  our  people  and  go  elsewhere. "  On  the 
last  night  of  the  ceremony  there  was  a  series  of  public 
exhibitions  in  a  corral,  or  circle  of  branches,  such  as 
the  Navajos  have  now  on  the  last  night  in  the  cere- 
mony of  the  mountain  chant,  and  among  the  different 
alili,  or  entertainments  of  the  night,  was  a  dance  by 
the  mutilated  women.  When  their  time  came  they 
entered  the  circle,  each  bearing  a  knife  in  her  hand, 
and  danced  around  the  central  fire,  peering  among 
the  spectators  as  if  searching  for  their  husband; 
but  he  was  hidden  in  the  wall  of  branches  that 
formed  the  circle.  As  they  danced  they  sang  a 
song  the  burden  of  which  was  "Pesla  asila"  (It 
was  the  knife  that  did  it  to  me).  When  they 
had  finished  their  dance  they  left  the  corral  and, 
in  the  darkness  without,  screamed  maledictions  at 
their  people,  saying;  "May  the  waters  drown  ye! 
May  the  winters  freeze  ye!  May  the  fires  burn 
ye!  May  the  lightnings  strike  ye!"  and  much 
more.  Having  cursed  till  they  were  tired,  they 
departed  for  the  far  north,  where  they  still  dwell, 
and  now,  whenever  they  turn  their  faces  to  the  south, 
we  have  cold  winds  and  storms  and  lightning. 


THE  NAVAJOS  39 

The  Navajos  perpetuate  these  legends  as  nearly 
as  is  possible  by  a  people  having  no  written  language, 
in  the  pristine  purity  of  their  fore-fathers ;  and  while 
the  federal  authority  extends  over  the  reservation  and 
punishes  infractions  of  the  law,  the  Navajos  have  a 
code  of  honor  and  morals  handed  down  from  genera- 
tion to  generation  since  they  first  became  a  nation, 
and  they  have  ever  regarded  it  as  their  sacred  duty 
to  obey  this  code  under  penalty  of  ostracism,  death, 
or  banishment  from  the  tribe. 


CHAPTER  IV 
Their  Manners  and  Customs 

The  coming  of  the  Spaniard  wrought  a  great 
change  in  the  life  and  occupation  of  the  Navajos. 

It  is  related  that  long  ago,  soon 
A  Pastoral  People  after  the  Spaniards  migrated 

with  their  flocks  to  the  country 
of  the  Navajos,  a  marauding  party  of  these  Indians 
were  out  on  a  foraging  expedition  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Rio  Grande  River  and  by  stealth  secured  a  small  flock 
of  sheep  and  goats  from  a  Spanish  settlement  and  took 
them  home  with  them.  These  animals  so  delighted  the 
women  and  children  of  the  tribe  that  no  pains  were 
spared  to  bestow  upon  them  the  tenderest  care  and 
greatest  consideration.  The  Navajos  soon  proved  to 
be  exceptionally  good  shepherds  and  under  their  care 
the  flocks  increased  rapidly  and  a  great  deal  of  atten- 
tion has  ever  since  been  given  by  them  to  the 
raising  of  sheep.  The  flocks  are  tended  almost  en- 
tirely by  the  women  and  children,  Navajo  women 
being,  perhaps,  the  best  shepherds  in  the  world.  They 
watch  over  their  flocks  as  tenderly  as  a  mother  watches 
over  her  infant  child.  "When  the  weather  is  cold  and 
damp  they  frequently  take  the  little  lambs  into  their 
hogans  and  wrap  them  up  in  soft,  woolly  skins  to 
protect  them  from  the-  chilling  blasts,  and  should  a 
young  lamb  lose  its  mother  the  Navajo  woman  will 


II 

s  1 

Q 


THE  NAVAJOS  41 

often  nurse  it  from  her  own  breast  as  she  would  her 
infant. 

Being  preeminently  a  pastoral  people,  there  can 
scarcely  be  found  a  Navajo  family  on  the  reservation 
that  does  not  possess  a  flock  of  sheep  and  goats,  rang- 
ing in  numbers  from  a  few  hundred  to  several  thou- 
sand head.  It  is  no  uncommon  sight  to  see  two  or 
three  small  children  watching  their  herds  far  out  on  the 
desert  waste  or  mountain  side  with  no  other  company 
than  their  flock,  their  faithful  dogs  and  the  ever 
present  Mexican  burro,  whose  voices  are  the  only 
sounds  that  have  disturbed  the  solemn  stillness  which 
has  hung  over  many  remote  places  in  this  strange  land 
since  creation. 

And  so  we  to-day  find  the  Navajo  Indians  the 
greatest  aboriginal  pastoral  people  in  the  New  World. 


The  Navajo  Indian  can  hardly  be  said  to  have 
a  permanent  home.  He  is  a  wanderer  over  a  desert 
land,  roaming  at  will  from  place  to 
Their  Home  place  with  his  flocks  and  herds  in  sum- 
mer, and  in  winter  seeking  shelter 
sometimes  in  the  foothills,  but  often  high  up  on  the 
mountain  sides,  where  he  can  secure  fuel  for  the  rude- 
ly constructed  hogan  he  calls  his  home.  That  he  en- 
joys his  domestic  fireside  there  can  be  no  doubt,  since 
he  lives  contented  and  happy,  ever  increasing  and 
multiplying. 


42  THE  NAVAJOS 

In  his  domestic  life  he  practices  a  code  of  morals 
after  which  many  of  his  more  enlightened  white  broth- 
ers would  do  well  to  pattern. 

Their  Domestic  Life  The  Navajo  father  is  kind 
to  his  wife  and  children 

and  in  return  they  practice  uniform  obedience  to 
him.  The  Navajo  child  is  seldom  punished  and  never 
beaten,  for  the  simple  reason  that  he  seldom  requires 
it.  There  appears  to  be  a  bond  of  sympathy  and 
love  between  parent  and  child  which  is  very  strong 
during  the  minority  of  the  child  but  strange  to  say, 
the  children  do  not  always  love  and  protect  their 
parents  when  the  latter  become  old  and  infirm.  To 
them  the  very  old  and  decrepit  have  few  rights  which 
they  are  bound  to  respect. 

The  women  are  generally  virtuous,  the  "  perverse 
woman "  being  an  object  of  universal  scorn.  The 
Navajos  believe  her  to  be  the  very  incarnation  of  the 
chindee  (evil  spirit),  and  that  at  death  her  spirit 
enters  a  fish.  Hence  the  Navajo's  utter  horror  and 
hatred  of  the  finny  tribe. 

It  is  a  maxim  of  the  tribe  that  a  Navajo  has  the 
right  to  have  as  many  wives  as  he  can  pay  for  and 

support.  He  secures  his  wives  by  pur- 
Marriage  chase  and  the  Navajo  maiden  is  never 

lacking  in  offers  of  marriage.  However, 
she  is  not  at  liberty  to  choose  her  own  husband,  but 
is  rather  a  standing  invitation  of  her  mother  for  as 
many  informal  proposals  as  she  may  be  able  to  at- 
tract, with  the  understanding  that  the  mother  re- 


THE  NAVAJOS  43 

serves  the  right  to  reject  any  and  all  bids  if  deemed 
for  the  best  interests  of  her  own  exchequer.  The 
daughters  are  the  property  of  the  mothers  until  mar- 
ried,  then  both  the  daughter  and  her  husband  belong 
to  the  mother.  Custom  requires  that  the  man  must  nev- 
er, under  penalty  of  some  awful  calamity  befalling  the 
whole  family,  look  his  mother-in-law  in  the  face. 

Because  the  young  women  command  high 
prices,  often  beyond  the  amount  the  young  man 
is  able  to  pay,  as  a  rule  the  old  men  marry  the  young 
girls  and  the  young  men  frequently  marry  old  women. 
After  they  have  made  their  fortune  they  may  then 
marry  young  women.  It  requires  several  ponies  and 
a  good  flock  of  sheep  to  buy  a  young  and  buxom 
Navajo  maiden.  At  death  all  the  property  of  the 
husband  descends  not  to  the  wife  and  children,  but  to 
the  brothers  and  distant  relatives  of  the  husband. 

The  Navajos  still  preserve  their  old  Indian  mar- 
riage customs.  Their  marriage  ceremony  is  one  of  the 

most  beautiful  of  any  of 

The  Wedding  Ceremony     the  tribes.     It  is  thus  des- 
cribed by  Mr.  A.  M.  Stev- 
ens: 

On  the  night  set  for  the  wedding  both  families 
and  their  friends  meet  at  the  hut  of  the  bride 's  family. 
Here  there  is  much  feasting  and  singing,  and  the 
bride's  family  makes  return  presents  to  the  bride- 
groom 's  people,  but  not,  of  course,  to  the  same  amount. 
The  women  of  the  bride's  family  prepare  corn  meal 
porridge,  which  is  poured  into  the  wedding  basket. 
The  bride's  uncle  then  sprinkles  a  circular  ring  and 


44  THE  NAVAJOS 

cross  of  the  sacred  blue  pollen  of  the  lark  spur  upon 
the  porridge,  near  the  outer  edge  and  in  the  center. 
The  bride  has  hitherto  been  lying  beside  her 
mother,  concealed  under  a  blanket,  on  the  woman's 
side  of  the  hogan  (hut).  After  calling  to  her  to  come 
to  him,  her  uncle  seats  her  on  the  west  side  of  the  hut, 
and  the  bridegroom  sits  down  before  her,  with  his 
face  toward  her's  and  the  basket  of  porridge  set  be- 
tween them.  A  gourd  of  water  is  then  given  to  the 
bride,  who  pours  some  of  it  on  the  bridegroom 's  hands 
while  he  washes  them,  and  he  then  performs  a  like 
office  for  her.  With  the  first  two  fingers  of  the  right 
hand  he  then  takes  a  pinch  of  porridge,  just  where  the 
line  of  pollen  touches  the  circle  of  the  east  side,  he 
eats  this  one  pinch,  and  the  bride  dips  with  her  finger 
from  the  same  place.  He  then  takes  in  succession  a 
pinch  from  the  other  places  where  the  lines  touch  the 
circle  and  a  final  pinch  from  the  center,  the  bride's 
fingers  following  his.  The  basket  of  porridge  is  then 
passed  over  to  the  younger  guests,  who  speedily  devour 
it  with  merry  clamor,  a  custom  analogous  to  dividing 
the  bride's  cake  at  a  wedding.  The  elder  relatives  of 
the  couple  now  give  them  much  good  and  weighty 
advice,  and  the  marriage  is  complete. 

The  Navajo  in  his  plural  marriages  often  has 
among  his  wives  the  mother  and  her  daughter  by  a 
previous  husband.  Should  he  marry  an  old  woman 
who  has  a  young  daughter,  it  is  not  an  uncommon 
practice  for  the  Navajo  to  marry  this  daughter  when 
she  arrives  at  the  age  of  nubility  and  in  so  doing  he 
prevents  the  mother-in-law  hoodoo  and  becomes  his 
own  father-in-law  by  adoption. 

Marriage  among  the  Navajos  is  quite  frequently 
a  probational  alliance,  about  one  year  elapsing  before 


THE  NAVAJOS  45 

they  publicly  acknowledge  their  matrimonial  relation- 
ship. When  the  young  man  marries  he  loses  his 
identity  with  his  own  family  and  lives  with,  and  be- 
comes a  member  of,  his  wife 's  family  and  the  children, 
if  any,  belong  to  the  mother  and  take  the  name  of  her 
gens.  No  Navajo  can  lawfully  marry  one  of  his  own 
gens,  and  they  seldom  form  matrimonial  alliances  or 
mix  with  the  white  race  in  any  manner.  As  a  result 
we  find  the  Navajos  preserving  their  old  customs, 
habits  and  modes  of  life  in  much  the  same  undefiled 
manner  to-day  as  before  the  white  man  made  his  ap- 
pearance among  them. 


The  Navajo  Indians  were  formerly  slave  owners. 
It  was  their  custom  to  hold  as  hostages  all  captives 

taken  in  war  from  other  tribes,  and  these 
Slavery  were  often  held  in  slavery  for  the  remainder 

of  their  lives.  "While  most  of  their  slaves 
were  taken  from  among  the  Ute  and  Piute  tribes,  still 
it  is  said  that  they  also  often  captured  Mexican  women 
and  held  them  in  slavery.  It  is  also  true  that  many 
Mexicans  captured  Navajo  women  and  sold  them  into 
bondage.  More  than  fifteen  hundred  Navajo  slaves 
were  held  by  the  whites  and  Mexicans  of  New  Mexico 
and  Arizona  when  the  United  States  acquired  that 
territory  from  Mexico.  It  is  more  than  probable  that 
the  Navajos  got  their  idea  of  abject  slavery  from 
their  experiences  with  the  Mexicans. 


46  THE  NAVAJOS 

The  Shaman  or  medicine-man  is  the  high  priest 

of  the  Navajos.     He  professes  to  cure  all  the  ills  of 

mind  and  body.     In  fact  to  the 

The  Medicine-man     Navajo  disease  is  nothing  more 

than     the     workings     of     evil 

spirits.  He  believes  if  this  evil  spirit  can  be  driven 
out  of  his  body  he  will  speedily  recover.  The  Shaman 
may  often  be  sincere  in  his  belief  that  he  possesses  the 
power  to  drive  out  the  evil  spirit  and  thus  restore 
health,  but  no  doubt  he  more  often  knows  that  he 
possesses  no  such  power  but  it  is  to  his  interest  to 
make  the  people  believe  that  he  possesses  it. 

In  the  first  place  the  medicine-man  must  have 
visible,  optical  assurance  of  his  pay  or  he  will  refuse 
to  "sing"  until  it  is  forthcoming.  He  is  most  exact- 
ing in  his  demands  for  compensation  for  unless  he 
receive  his  price  in  advance  his  ability  to  effect  a  cure 
is  greatly  endangered.  He  is  very  careful  to  explain 
to  the  patient  that  if  he  doesn  't  exact  the  fee  the  gods 
will  get  mad  at  him  and  will  refuse  to  answer  his 
prayers.  This  is  usually  a  convincing  argument  and 
the  fee  is  forthcoming. 

The  Navajo  leads  a  strenuous  open  air  life.  He 
possesses  great  powers  of  endurance,  is  active,  quick, 

alert  and  ever  ready 
The  Discipline  of  their  Life  to  strike  a  bargain 

whereby  he  may  en- 
rich his  coffers.  He  has  never  been  pauperized  by  the 
government  and  has  kept  alive  his  racial  instincts  and 
his  tribal  initiative.  Necessity  early  taught  him  that 


THE  NAVAJOS  47 

much  hard  labor  is  required  to  extract  a  living  from 
a  barren  desert  and  he  has  not  forgotten  the  lesson. 
He  lives  close  to  nature,  wears  no  hat,  does  not  restrict 
the  free  use  of  his  body  by  the  use  of  suspenders  and 
seldom  puts  anything  into  his  mouth  to  steal  away  his 
brains.  He  has  his  faults,  but  with  all  that  he  keeps 
his  passions  well  under  control.  With  head  high 
and  lungs  expanded  he  goes  forth  to  do  what- 
ever his  hands  find  to  do  and  he  does  not  give  up. 
With  him  work  is  a  matter  of  necessity,  not  always 
of  choice,  but  in  his  own  country,  in  his  own  way,  and 
after  the  manner  of  his  forefathers  he  is  at  home, 
living  one  day  at  a  time,  never  borrowing  trouble 
and  enjoying  the  freedom  of  his  own  mountain  abode. 


The  Navajos  have  a  great  variety  of  games  and 
sports  which  they  formerly  practiced  greatly  to  their 
amusement  and  physical  well- 
Games  and  Sports  being.  A  favorite  sport  among 
them  now  in  the  way  of  match- 
ing physical  dexterity  and  endurance  is  foot  races. 
There  are  probably  no  better  runners  among  any 
other  Indians  in  the  United  States  especially  for  long 
distances.  They  will  often  run  for  several  miles  at 
a  stretch  and  a  Navajo  will  take  a  message  across 
the  desert  on  foot  and  run  a  distance  of  twenty  or 
thirty  miles,  scarcely  stopping.  He  is  fleet  of  foot 
but  above  all  is  the  remarkable  power  of  endurance 
he  displays  in  making  long  journeys  across  the  desert 
and  mountains. 


48  THE  NAVAJOS 

The  game  of  Cat's  Cradle  was  once  a  game  much 
played  by  the  Navajos,  and  the  myth  of  the  game  is 
thus  given  by  Rev.  Berard  Haile : 

Cat's  Cradle  owes  its  origin  to  the  spider  people. 
They,  the  spiders,  who  in  the  Navajo  belief  were  hu- 
man beings,  taught  them  the  game  for  their  own 
amusement.  The  holy  spider  taught  the  Navajo  to 
play  and  how  to  make  the  various  figures  of  stars, 
snakes,  bears,  coyottes,  etc.,  but  on  one  condition  — 
they  were  to  play  only  in  winter,  because  at  that 
season  spiders,  snakes,  etc.,  sleep  and  do  not  see  them. 
To  play  the  Cat 's  Cradle  at  any  other  time  of  the  year 
would  be  folly,  for  certain  death  by  lightning,  falling 
from  a  horse,  or  some  other  mishap  were  sure  to  reach 
the  offender.  Otherwise  no  religious  meaning  is  said 
to  attach  to  the  game.  Some  claim  it  is  to  teach  the 
children  the  location  of  the  stars. 

Some  of  the  other  games  and  sports  indulged  in 
by  the  Navajos  are  similar  to  those  practiced  by  many 
other  tribes  of  American  Indians,  such  as  archery, 
hidden  ball,  dice  games,  shinny,  ball  race,  etc. 

The  Navajos  do  not  like  to  bury  their  dead  them- 
selves though  they  are  always  willing  the  white  people 
should  do  so  for  them.  Their  supersti- 
The  Burial  tion  prevents  them  from  even  so  much  as 
touching  a  dead  person  if  possible  to 
prevent  doing  so.  Before  life  has  entirely  left  the  body 
it  is  the  custom  to  wrap  it  in  a  new  blanket  and  carry 
it  to  some  convenient  secluded  spot  where  it  is  de- 
posited on  top  of  the  ground  or  beneath  some  project- 
ing cliff  or  rock,  together  with  all  the  personal  effects 
of  the  deceased.  If  an  infant,  the  cradle,  trinkets,  etc., 


A  Navajo  Woman  in  Native  Dress 


THE  NAVAJOS  49 

are  carefully  deposited  beside  the  body.  When  there 
are  no  longer  signs  of  life  stones  are  piled 
around  and  over  it,  in  order,  they  say,  to  keep  the 
wolves  and  coyotes  from  carrying  it  away.  If  the 
deceased  be  a  grown  person  the  favorite  saddle 
horse  is  led  to  the  body  where  it  is  killed  in  a  most 
brutal  manner  by  knocking  it  in  the  head  with  axe  or 
club.  Here  it  lies  by  the  form  of  its  late  owner, 
ready  for  the  journey  to  the  great  spirit  world. 

If  by  chance  a  Navajo  should  die  suddenly  before 
he  can  be  removed  from  the  hogan,  they  sometimes 
ply  the  firebrand  and  burn  up  the  hut  with  all  its 
contents,  thus  cremating  the  dead.  Believing  that  the 
evil  spirit  enters  the  form  at  death  and  that  if  they 
should  come  in  contact  with  a  dead  body  or  were  to 
enter  a  hogan  in  which  one  of  their  number  had  died, 
the  evil  spirit  would  enter  into  them  and  kill 
them  instantly,  they  are  afraid  to  touch  it  or  even  to 
enter  the  hogan  in  which  the  person  died. 

Upon  the  death  of  the  head  of  a  Navajo  family 
all  of  his  personal  property  descends  to  his  brothers, 
sisters,  uncles  and  aunts  to  the  exclusion  of  his  wife 
and  children,  a  custom  which  is  often  very  harmful 
in  its  effects,  since  if  the  wife  should  happen  not  to 
be  possessed  of  some  property  in  her  own  right  she 
and  the  children  are  made  to  suffer  penury  and  want. 


CHAPTER  Y 
Wars  and  Treaties 

Perhaps  no  other  tribe  of  North  American  In- 
dians were  ever  so  successful,  through  so  many  years, 

in  warfare  with  the  white  man  as  were 
As  Warriors  the  Navajos.  While  history  fails  to 

record  a  single  great  battle  with  the 
Navajos  such  as  our  armies  have  fought  with  the 
Sioux,  Comanches,  Apaches  and  others,  still  they  car- 
ried on  a  continual  desultory  warfare  with  whites, 
Mexicans  and  neighboring  tribes  of  Indians  for  more 
than  one  hundred  and  eighty  years,  with  few  intervals 
of  peace.  From  1849  to  1867  the  United  States 
expended  annually  over  three  million  dollars  in 
fighting  and  feeding  the  Navajos.  In  fact  for  many 
years  the  Navajos  believed  themselves  the  most  form- 
idable warriors  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  They  did 
not  possess  the  least  doubt  as  to  their  ability  success- 
fully to  engage  the  combined  armies  of  the  United 
States  and  Mexico  with  the  Utes  and  Piutes  thrown 
in  for  good  measure.  And  why  not?  Did  not  Gen- 
eral Canby,  General  Garland,  General  Sumner  and 
many  other  brave  soldiers  of  our  army  march  into  their 
country  bent  on  exterminating  the  whole  tribe,  and 
then  straightway  march  out  again  happy  in  the 
thought  that  they  had  been  permitted  to  escape  with 
their  lives?  Why  then  should  the  Navajo  have  any 


THE  NAVAJOS  51 

fears?  In  numbers  he  believed  himself  far  superior 
to  the  rest  of  the  world.  Taking  a  handful  of  sand 
he  would  let  it  slowly  dribble  through  his  fingers 
upon  the  ground,  and  when  the  last  grain  had  passed 
through  he  would  point  to  the  little  heap  below  and 
say  "  White  soldiers  all  the  same  as  the  grains  in  this 
little  heap  of  sand."  Then  turning  to  the  broad  ex- 
panse of  mountain  and  plain  extending  for  miles 
and  miles  all  around  him,  he  would  make  a  low  circu- 
lar sweep  and  with  outstretched  arm  pointing  to  the 
grass  covered  mountains,  plains  and  table  lands,  would 
say,  "Navajos  all  the  same  as  the  blades  of  grass." 

But  the  Navajos  forgot  to  reckon  with  Kit  Carson. 
"Father  Kit,"  as  the  Pueblo  Indians  called  him,  was 

not  only  a  trapper,  hunter,  guide,  sol- 
Kit  Carson  dier,  and  Indian  agent,  but  he  possessed 

the  capacity,  in  a  marvelous  degree,  of 
making  quick  decisions  at  just  the  right  time.  The 
distinguishing  traits  of  his  character  were  integrity, 
bravery,  and  skilful  leadership.  The  Navajos,  when 
they  once  knew  Kit,  admired  him.  He  always  told 
them  the  truth,  "talked  one  way,"  and  so  completely 
were  they  surprised  and  overwhelmed  by  his  shrewd 
tactics  that  one  engagement  was  all  that  was  needed 
to  convince  them  that  they  had  better  make  terms 
with  Kit  at  once,  and  practically  the  whole  tribe  sur- 
rendered to  him  with  very  little  bloodshed.  They 
soon  learned  that  he  would  punish  them  if  they  did 
wrong,  and  that  he  would  also  defend  them  if  they 
were  wronged  by  the  whites. 


52  THE  NAVAJOS 

The  last  Navajo  war  was  begun  in  1861  and  ended 
two  or  three  years  later.     A  negro  slave  was  killed 

by  the  Navajos  at  Fort  De- 

The  Last  Navajo  War     fiance,  Arizona,  the  slave  be- 
longing to  one  of  the  army 

officers  stationed  at  that  post.  The  military  authori- 
ties demanded  that  the  murderer  be  brought  in.  The 
Indians  refused  to  comply  with  the  demand.  War 
was  declared.  The  Navajos  entered  upon  a  series  of 
hostile  incursions  into  the  Mexican  settlements,  cap- 
turing stock  and  committing  other  acts  of  depredation. 
The  governor  of  the  territory  was  appealed  to,  and 
public  sentiment  generally  aroused  against  the  Nava- 
jos. A  mighty  effort  was  now  to  be  made  to  anni- 
hilate these  " butchering  Navajos." 


In  1862  General  Sibley,  of  the  Confederate  army, 
marched  into  New  Mexico  from  Texas  with  a  force  of 

armed  men  and  attracted  the 

General  Sibley  attention  of  the  United  States 

Invades  New  Mexico     troops  then  stationed  in  the 

Territory.  Taking  advantage 

of  the  situation  the  Navajos  and  Apaches  began  rob- 
bing the  citizens  of  their  stock  and  committing  other 
acts  of  depredation  among  the  white  settlements. 
Henry  Connelly,  then  governor  of  New  Mexico,  is- 
sued a  proclamation  directing  that  the  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  militia  reorganize  his  forces  and  proceed 
to  subdue  and  chastise  the  ''perfidious"  Navajos. 


THE  NAVAJOS  53 

"For  many  years  past  you  have  been  suffering 
from  the  hostile  inroads  of  a  perfidious  tribe  of  In- 
dians, who,  notwithstanding  the 
The  Proclamation     efforts    of    the    government    to 
ameliorate   their   condition   and 
administer  to  their  wants  in  every  respect,  do  not 
cease  daily  to  encroach  upon  the  rights  and  depredate 
upon  the  lives  and  property  of  the  peaceful  citizens 
of  New  Mexico. 

"For  a  long  series  of  years  have  we  been  subjected 
to  the  rapacity  and  desolation  of  this  hostile  tribe, 
which  has  reduced  many  a  wealthy  citizen  to  poverty, 
and  the  greater  part  of  our  citizens  to  want  and  men- 
dicacy;  which  has  murdered  hundreds  of  our  people, 
and  carried  our  women  and  children  into  captivity. 
Almost  every  family  in  the  Territory  has  to  mourn 
the  loss  of  some  loved  one  who  has  been  made  a  sac- 
rifice to  these  bloodthirsty  Navajos.  Our  highways 
are  insecure,  and  the  entire  country  is  now  invaded 
and  overrun  by  these  rapacious  Indians,  murdering, 
robbing,  and  carrying  off  whatever  may  come  in  their 
way.  Such  a  state  of  things  cannot  and  must  not 
longer  be  endured. 

"For  more  than  a  year  past  we  have  been  men- 
aced by,  and  finally  suffered  the  invasion  of,  Texas 
forces ;  to  repel  which,  and  relieve  the  Territory  from 
that  more  powerful  and  not  less  rapacious  foe,  re- 
quired all  the  energies  and  exhausted  the  resources  of 
the  Territory.  During  this  period  of  time  the  Indians 
have,  with  impunity,  preyed  upon  every  interest  of 
our  people,  and  reduced  them  to  a  state  of  poverty 
which  has  not  been  felt  for  the  last  fifty  years. 

"We  are  now  free  from  all  appearance  of  a  con- 
federate force  upon  our  frontier,  but  the  attention  of 
the  military  will  be  constantly  drawn  to  any  new 
dangers  that  may  threaten  from  the  same,  or  any  other 


54  THE  NAYAJOS 

quarter,  and  will,  consequently,  not  be  able  to  send 
into  the  Indian  country  any  large  force  for  the  length 
of  time  necessary  to  subjugate  the  Indians  and  re- 
capture the  immense  amount  of  property  of  which  our 
people  have  been  so  recently  despoiled.  This  duty 
pertains  to  the  militia  of  the  Territory ;  for  this  pur- 
pose you  are  to  organize,  never  to  be  disbanded  until 
we  have  secured  indemnity  for  the  past  and  security 
for  the  future. 

"It  belongs  to  the  people  to  relieve  themselves  of 
the  evils  they  are  suffering,  and  administer  such  chas- 
tisement to  these  marauders  as  they  deserve.  We  have 
power  to  do  so,  and  that  power  must  be  exercised. 

"Therefore,  I,  Henry  Connelly,  governor  of  the 
Territory  of  New  Mexico,  and  command er-in-chief  of 
the  militia  forces  thereof,  do  hereby  order  all  the  field 
and  staff  officers  of  said  forces  immediately  to  proceed 
to  the  reorganization  of  the  militia,  in  conformity  with 
the  law  in  force  on  the  subject,  and  under  such  rules 
and  regulations  as  may  be  prescribed,  and  to  have  said 
militia  ready  to  march  to  the  Navajo  country  by  the 
15th  of  October  next.  The  adjutant  general  is  hereby 
ordered  to  carry  this  proclamation  into  effect. 

"Done  at  Santa  Fe  the  14th  day  of  September, 
1862.  HENRY  CONNELLY. 

"By  the  governor: 

"W.  F.  M.  Arney, 
"Secretary  of  New  Mexico." 

The  above  proclamation  recites  only  the  white 
man's  grievances.  It  says  nothing  about  the  injuries 
received  by  the  Indians  at  the  hands  of  the  whites. 
It  does  not  refer  to  the  fact  that  the  Mexicans  and 
Americans  were  at  that  moment  holding  more  than 
fifteen  hundred  Navajo  Indians  as  slaves.  Even  Gov- 


THE  NAVAJOS  55 

ernor  Connelly  himself  owned  Navajo  slaves  at  the 
time  he  wrote  the  above  proclamation.  Nor  does 
it  relate  that  the  Indians  had  suffered  from 
the  frequent  and  murderous  incursions  of  the 
Mexicans;  that  their  flocks  had  been  stolen, 
their  wives  and  children  hunted  down  and  many 
of  them  captured  and  sold  into  slavery.  No, 
the  Indian  can  not  communicate  his  grievances 
in  so  forceful  a  way  as  his  white  neighbors;  he  re- 
mains stolid  and  silent;  he  knows  it  is  useless,  his 
story  would  not  be  believed  anyway.  But  he  had  at 
least  one  friend  among  the  whites  who  dared  to  ex- 
press his  opinion  as  to  the  causes  of  the  trouble. 
This  white  man  bravely  fought  them  and  punished 
them  for  their  wrongs  and  just  as  bravely  stood  up 
for  them  in  their  rights.  Let  him  tell  his  own  story. 

Colonel  Kit  Carson  sworn : 

I  have  heard  read  the  statement  of  Colonel  Bent, 
and  his  suggestions  and  opinions  in  relation  to  Indian 
affairs  coincide  perfectly  with  my 
Causes  of  Indian  own.  I  came  to  this  country  in 
Wars  1826,  and  since  that  time  I  have 

been  pretty  well  acquainted  with 
the  Indian  tribes,  both  in  peace  and  at  war.  I 
think,  as  a  general  thing,  the  difficulties  arise  from 
aggressions  on  the  part  of  the  whites.  From  what 
I  have  heard,  the  whites  are  always  cursing 
the  Indians,  and  are  not  willing  to  do  them 
justice.  For  instance,  at  times  large  trains  come 
into  this  country,  and  some  man  without  any  responsi- 
bility is  hired  to  guard  the  horses,  mules  and  stock  of 
the  trains;  these  cattle  by  his  negligence  frequently 
stray  off ;  always,  if  anything  is  lost,  the  cry  is  raised 


56  THE  NAVAJOS 

that  the  Indians  stole  it.  It  is  customary  among  the 
Indians,  even  among  themselves,  if  they  lose  animals, 
as  Indians  go  everywhere,  if  they  bring  them  in  they 
expect  to  get  something  for  their  trouble.  Among 
themselves  they  always  pay;  but  when  brought  in  to 
this  man,  who  lost  them  through  his  negligence,  he 
refuses  to  pay,  and  abuses  the  Indians,  striking  or 
sometimes  shooting  them,  because  they  do  not  wish 
to  give  up  the  stock  without  pay;  and  thus  a  war  is 
brought  on.  *  *  *  * 

I  think  if  proper  men  were  appointed  and  proper 
steps  taken,  peace  could  be  had  with  all  the  Indians 
on  and  below  the  Arkansas,  without  war.  I  believe 
if  Colonel  Bent  and  myself  were  authorized,  we  could 
make  a  solid,  lasting  peace  with  those  Indians.  I 
have  much  more  confidence  in  the  influence  of  Colonel 
Bent  with  the  Indians  than  in  my  own.  I  think  if 
prompt  action  were  taken  the  Indians  could  be  got 
together  by  the  tenth  of  September.  I  know  that  even 
before  the  acquisition  of  New  Mexico  there  had  about 
always  existed  an  hereditary  warfare  between  the 
Navajos  and  Mexicans ;  forays  were  made  into  each 
other's  country,  and  stock,  women  and  children  stolen. 
Since  the  acquisition,  the  same  state  has  existed;  we 
would  hardly  get  back  from  fighting  and  making  peace 
with  them  before  they  would  be  at  war  again.  I  con- 
sider the  reservation  system  as  the  only  one  to  be 
adopted  for  them. 

If  they  were  sent  back  to  their  own  reservation 
tomorrow,  it  would  not  be  a  month  before  hostilities 
would  commence  again.  There  is  a  part  of  the  Nava- 
jos, the  wealthy,  who  wish  to  live  in  peace ;  the  poorer 
class  are  in  the  majority,  and  they  have  no  chiefs 
who  can  control  them.  When  I  campaigned  against 
them  eight  months  I  found  them  scattered  over  a 
country  several  hundred  miles  in  extent.  There  is 


JS  "5 

t 


THE  NAVAJOS  57 

no  suitable  place  in  their  own  country  —  and  I  have 
been  all  over  it  —  where  more  than  two  thousand  could 
here  be  placed.  If  located  in  different  places,  it  would 
not  be  long  before  they  and  the  Mexicans  would  be  at 
war.  If  they  were  scattered  on  different  locations,  I 
hardly  think  any  number  of  troops  could  keep  them  on 
their  reservations.  The  mountains  they  live  in  in  the 
Navajo  country  cannot  be  penetrated  by  troops.  There 
are  canyons  in  their  country  thirty  miles  in  length, 
with  walls  a  thousand  feet  high,  and  when  at  war  it 
is  impossible  for  troops  to  pass  through  these  canyons, 
in  which  they  hide  and  cultivate  the  ground.  In  the 
main  Canyon  de  Chelly  they  had  some  two  or  three 
thousand  peach  trees,  which  were  mostly  destroyed  by 
my  troops.  Colonel  Sumner,  in  the  fall  of  1851,  went 
into  the  Canyon  de  Chelly  with  several  hundred  men 
and  two  pieces  of  artillery;  he  got  into  the  canyon 
some  eight  or  ten  miles,  but  had  to  retreat  out  of  it 
at  night.  In  the  walls  of  the  canyon  they  have  regu- 
lar houses  built  in  the  crevices,  from  which  they  fire 
and  roll  down  huge  stones  on  an  enemy.  They  have 
regular  fortifications,  averaging  from  one  to  two  hun- 
dred feet  from  the  bottom,  with  portholes  for  firing. 
No  small  arms  can  injure  them,  and  artillery  cannot 
be  used.  In  one  of  these  crevices  I  found  a  two  story 
house.  I  regard  these  canyons  as  impregnable.  Gen- 
eral Canby  entered  this  canyon,  but  retreated  the 
next  morning.  When  I  captured  the  Navajos  I  first 
destroyed  their  crops,  and  harassed  them  until  the 
snow  fell  very  deep  in  the  canyons,  taking  some  pris- 
oners occasionally.  I  think  it  was  about  the  6th  of 
January,  after  the  snow  fell,  that  I  started.  Five 
thousand  soldiers  would  probably  keep  them  on  reser- 
vations in  their  own  country.  The  Navajos  had  a 
good  many  small  herd  when  I  went  there.  I  took 
twelve  hundred  sheep  from  them  at  one  time,  and 


58  THE  NAVAJOS 

smaller  lots  at  different  times.  The  volunteers  were 
allowed  one  dollar  per  head  for  all  sheep  and  goats 
taken,  which  were  turned  over  to  the  commissary.  I 
think  General  Carleton  gave  the  order  as  an  encour- 
agement to  the  troops.  I  think  from  fifteen  hundred 
to  two  thousand  could  subsist  themselves  in  the  Valley 
de  Chelly.  At  this  point  it  took  me  and  three  hun- 
dred men  most  one  day  to  destroy  a  field  of  corn.  I 
think  probably  fifteen  hundred  could  subsist  on  the 
northeastern  slope  of  the  Tunacha  mountain.  I  know 
of  no  other  place  near  by  where  any  considerable  num- 
ber could  subsist  themselves.  I  was  in  the  valley  of 
the  San  Juan  but  can  give  no  idea  of  the  number  that 
could  subsist  themselves  in  it.  While  I  was  in  the 
country  there  was  continual  thieving  carried  on  be- 
tween the  Navajos  and  Mexicans.  Some  Mexicans 
now  object  to  the  settlement  of  the  Navajos  at  the 
Bosque  (Fort  Sumner),  because  they  cannot  prey  on 
them  as  formerly.  I  am  of  the  opinion  that,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  military  campaign  and  the  destruction 
of  their  crops,  they  were  forced  to  come  in.  It  ap- 
pears to  me  that  the  only  objection  to  the  Bosque  is  on 
account  of  the  wood;  this  consists  of  mesquite  roots. 

During  the  next  two  years  following  Governor 
Connelly's  proclamation,  over  six  thousand  Navajos 
were  captured  by  Colonel  Kit  Carson, 
Their  Capture  almost  without  the  shedding  of  blood. 
He  invaded  their  stronghold,  the 
Canyon  de  Chelly,  a  feat  that  no  one  before  him  had 
ever  been  able  successfully  to  accomplish.  He  cap- 
tured the  entire  body  of  Navajos  who  had  retired 
thither  thinking  themselves  out  of  all  danger.  In 
most  instances  he  was  able  to  reason  with  them  and 
convince  them  that  their  only  safety  from  destruction 


THE  NAVAJOS  59 

lay  in  their  peaceably  surrendering.  His  skill  in  war- 
fare and  his  indomitable  courage  and  daring  won 
for  him  the  admiration  of  all  the  tribes  with  whom 
he  ever  came  in  contact  or  to  whom  his  valor  and  the 
story  of  his  brave  deeds  had  been  carried.  The  Nava- 
jos, however,  still  delight  in  telling  of  the  time  when 
they  surrounded  Kit  on  top  of  a  large  black  rock  near 
Fort  Defiance  and  held  him  there  a  prisoner  for  three 
days,  when  he  finally  effected  his  escape.  The  name 
of  Kit  Carson  is  to  this  day  held  in  reverence  by  all 
the  old  members  of  the  Navajo  tribe.  They  say  he 
knew  how  to  be  just  and  considerate  as  well  as  how 
to  fight  the  Indians. 


The  Navajos  were  collected  and  given  small  tracts 
of  land  to  cultivate  near  Fort  Sumner,  in  eastern  New 

Mexico.    This  section  of  coun- 
The  Bosque  Redondo    try   was    called    the    Bosque 

Redondo.     It  proved  to  be  a 

very  unhealthful  place  for  the  Navajos,  many  of  them 
dying  from  the  effects  of  the  alkali  water.  Wood 
was  also  scarce.  It  consisted  largely  of  the  roots 
of  the  mesquite  bush  and  had  to  be  dug  out  of  the 
ground  and  dried  before  it  would  burn  readily.  This 
was  very  hard  work  and  they  longed  to  be  permitted 
to  return  to  their  old  home  where  there  was  plenty 
of  good  fuel  and  where  they  might  tend  their  flocks, 
farm  their  fields  and  weave  their  blankets  in  peace 
and  unmolested  quietude. 

Serious  objections  were  raised  by  the  citizens  of 


60  THE  NAVAJOS 

New  Mexico  to  the  government  permitting  the  Nava- 
jos  to  leave  the  Bosque.  It  became  the  topic  of  the 
hour  throughout  the  Territory  and  bitter  controversies 
arose  as  to  the  expediency  of  settling  the  Navajos 
again  on  their  old  reservation.  A  Senate  committee 
was  finally  sent  to  investigate  and  report  on  the  con- 
dition of  these  Indians.  A  council  was  held  with  the 
head-men  of  the  tribe  to  ascertain  their  wishes  and  to 
know  if  they  had  any  assurances  to  offer  as  to  their 
future  conduct  if  allowed  to  return.  The  Indians 
pleaded  pitifully  to  be  allowed  to  return  to  the  graves 
of  their  ancestors  and  to  all  they  held  dear.  They 
told  the  representatives  of  the  government  that  all 
they  wished  was  to  be  permitted  to  return  unmolested ; 
that  they  did  not  ask  the  government  to  give  them 
anything,  they  would  manage  to  live  some  way.  They 
said  if  they  could  be  allowed  to  take  one  old  buck 
goat  back  with  them  this  was  all  they  would  ask ;  this 
goat  they  would  tie  to  a  pinyon  tree  with  leathern 
thongs  on  the  top  of  a  high  mountain  when  they  re- 
turned and  they  would  there  let  him  become  famished 
from  hunger  and  thirst,  and  when  the  goat  should 
become  irritable  and  angry  they  would  call  all  the 
young  men  of  the  tribe  and  place  them  in  a  circle 
about  the  pinyon  tree  to  which  he  would  be  tied,  and 
while  the  old  men  incited  the  animal  to  madness  the 
young  men  would  look  on,  and  as  they  watched  the 
goat  butt  his  head  against  the  tree  until  the  blood 
should  ooze  from  its  ears  and  nose  and  its  head  became 
one  mat  of  gore,  they  would  tell  them  "thus  it  is 
ever,  to  the  Indians  who  oppose  the  government. 


Navajo  Weavers 


THE  NAVAJOS  61 

Fighting  the  government  is  all  the  same  as  that  goat 
butting  the  tree.  Our  sons,  take  warning,  the  govern- 
ment is  very  strong  and  powerful;  the  Navajos  will 
ever,  hereafter,  remain  at  peace  with  the  government 
and  shall  henceforth  listen  to  Washington,  for  he  is 
our  best  friend." 

So  the  Navajos,  in  1867,  were  allowed  to  return 

to  their  old  reservation.     Whether  or  no  the  goat 

incident  was  ever  carried  into 

Their  Return         effect,  history  does  not  tell  us. 

to  the  Reservation    At  any  rate  the  Navajos  have 

ever  since  kept  their  word  and, 

except  for  a  few  sheep  and  farming  implements,  have 

never  received  anything  from  the  government.     In 

fact  they  have  refused  to  have  rations  issued  to  them 

for  the  reason,  they  say,  they  do  not  want  the  young 

men  pauperized. 

This  was  the  last  of  the  Navajo  wars.* 

The  only  treaties  ever  made  with  the  Navajos 
were  treaties  of  peace.  They  have  never  received  an 

annuity  from  the  government  in  payment 
Treaties  for  land  ceded  because  they  never  owned 

any  land  that  the  white  man  wanted. 
This  reservation  is  only  a  barren  waste  for  the  most 
part,  five  acres  of  land  being  required  to  support 
a  single  sheep.  So  far,  the  white  man  has  not  coveted 
the  land  to  any  great  extent  and  for  this  reason,  and 


*See  Appendix. 


62  THE  NAVAJOS 

this  reason  alone,  the  Navajos  are  permitted  to  roam 
unmolested  over  their  large  reservation  and  to  follow 
the  avocations  of  peaceful  shepherds  and  farmers  hi 
security  and  undisturbed  quietude. 

In  this  the  Navajos  are  extremely  fortunate.  They 
are  better  off  in  many  ways  than  if  they  possessed  well 
watered  and  fertile  acres  instead  of  their  vast  area  of 
desert  waste.  For  nowhere  in  the  United  States  do 
we  find  tribes  of  Indians  who  have  received  large  per 
capita  payments  for  lands  sold  to  the  government  who 
have  not  become  greatly  demoralized  thereby.  Out- 
laws, gamblers  and  whiskey  peddlers  have  ever  fol- 
lowed in  the  wake  of  treaty  commissions  and  brought 
to  the  simple  minded  natives  diseases,  vices  and  the 
basest  of  demoralizing  influences,  which,  in  their  weak- 
ness, they  have  readily  accepted  as  the  refinements  of 
our  civilization. 

So  the  Navajos,  like  the  ancient  Belgae  who  dwelt 
beyond  the  Marne  and  Seine,  are  the  bravest,  most 
industrious  and  independent  of  any  of  the  tribes  of 
North  American  Indians,  for  the  reason  that  they  do 
not  receive  the  annual  gift  of  gold  from  the  govern- 
ment to  attract  to  their  reservation  the  lawless  and 
depraved  characters  who  would  import  those  vices 
and  customs  which  tend  to  enervate  both  mind  and 
body. 


CHAPTER  VI 
Their  Religion  and  Morals 

The  Navajo  is  intensely  and  even  intemperately 

religious.     He  is  a  great  pantheist  and  ascribes  the 

attributes  of  Divinity  to  all  the  mighty 

A  Pantheist    manifestations  of  nature.     He  believes 

in  a  Great  Spirit  —  the  All  of  All  — 

but    contemplates    Him    only    as    some    mysterious, 

mighty   power   whose   anger  must   be   appeased  by 

prayer  and  supplication.     The  following  is  one  of  his 

prayers,  according  to  Dr.  Matthews: 

Reared  within  the  Mountains! 

Lord  of  the  Mountains ! 

Young  Man! 

Chieftain ! 

I  have  made  your  sacrifices, 

I  have  prepared  a  smoke  for  you. 

My  feet  restore  thou  me. 

My  legs  restore  thou  me. 

My  body  restore  thou  me. 

My  mind  restore  thou  me. 

My  voice  restore  thou  me. 

Restore  all  for  me  in  beauty. 

Make  beautiful  all  that  is  before  me. 

Make  beautiful  all  that  is  behind  me. 

Make  beautiful  my  words. 

It  is  done  in  beauty. 

It  is  done  in  beauty. 

It  is  done  in  beauty. 

It  is  done  in  beauty. 

This  is  a  prayer  addressed  to  the  prophet  Dsilyi 
Neyani  in  the  great  ceremony  of  the  Mountain  Chant, 


64  THE  NAVAJOS 

an  elaborate  religious  rite  of  nine  days  duration  which 
the  Navajos  celebrate  ostensibly  for  the  healing  of  the 
sick.  The  supplicant  after  offering  the  sacrificial 
sticks  smoked  the  sacrificial  cigarette  and  this  was  the 
smoke  he  had  prepared  for  the  prophet.* 

The  Navajo's  heaven  is  below,  not  in  the  skies 
above.  It  is  said  that  he  believes  that  all  departed 
spirits  go  to  a  marsh  or  swamp,  where  they  remain  for 
four  days.  If  they  have  always  obeyed  the  gods  they 
will  be  shown  a  ladder  leading  them  to  a  world  below. 
Some  of  their  people  never  reach  this  place,  but  are 
lost  forever.  They  worship  two  great  spirits,  male 
and  female,  or  father  and  mother.  These  dwell  at 
the  rising  and  setting  of  the  sun.  After  descending 
the  ladder  they  enter  the  new  world.  Here  they  be- 
hold their  father  and  mother  combing  their  hair.  This 
they  look  upon  in  silence  for  several  days,  when  they 
climb  the  ladder  back  up  into  the  swamp  to  bathe  and 
become  purified.  Then  they  return  to  the  world  below 
and  to  where  they  first  saw  the  two  spirits  combing 
their  hair.  In  this  world  they  remain  for  eternity, 
contented  and  happy. 

Like  all  Indians,  the  Navajos  are  a  very  super- 
stitious people.     They  use  charms  for  almost  every- 
thing.    Of  these  they  have  great  num- 
Superstition    bers.     For  rain  they  use  a  long  round 
stone  which  they  believe  falls  from  the 
clouds  when  it  thunders.     They  use  bear's  gall  which 
they  dry  in  the  sun  and  carry  about  their  person  in 

*For  full  description  of  the  ceremony  of  the  Mountain  Ckant  see5M 
Annual  Report  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology. 


THE  NAVAJOS  65 

small  buck-skin  bags  to  keep  away  the  witches.  For 
the  cure  of  common  diseases  they  use  feathers,  stones, 
crane's  bills,  antelope  toes,  roots,  leaves,  etc. 

The  Navajo's  religion  is  to  be  found  in  his  great 
rites  and  ceremonies,  commonly  called  dances.  Many 
of  these  are  elaborate  and  require  several  days 
in  their  performance.  In  performing  his  rites  there 
is  much  praying  and  offering  of  sacrifices.  These 
sacrifices  are  always  of  an  innocent  nature  —  no  shed- 
ding of  blood.  None  of  his  great  religious  ceremonies 
has  ever  been  thoroughly  understood  by  the  white 
man  and  doubtless  never  will  be,  but  we  do  know  that 
the  Navajo  is  a  very  religious  being  though  his  faith 
could  hardly  be  classed  as  orthodox. 

The  Navajo  reservation  has  an  area  almost  equal 
to  one-third  the  state  of  Pennsylvania,  with  an  es- 
timated population  of  20,000  to  28,000  In- 
Morals  dians,  and  if  they  were  so  inclined  they 
could  commit  all  manner  of  crimes  among 
themselves  without  fear  of  punishment.  But  they 
do  not  do  so.  They  gamble  a  great  deal  but 
they  seldom  have  any  disputes  among  them- 
selves over  their  games.  The  women  are  gener- 
ally virtuous  and  are  perhaps  the  most  independent 
wives  to  be  found  among  any  of  the  Indian  tribes  on 
the  continent.  Owning  the  children  and  the  sheep 
in  their  own  right,  they  are  in  a  position  to  demand  a 
hearing  in  deciding  all  the  important  matters  pertain- 
ing to  the  domestic  welfare  of  the  family. 

Nor  does  the  Navajo  as  a  rule  indulge  in  the  use  of 


66  THE  NAVAJOS 

intoxicating  beverages.  His  only  stimulating  beverage 
is  coffee — Arbuckle's  roasted  coffee — "the  drink  that 
cheers  but  does  not  inebriate. ' '  He  will  use  no  other 
brand.  There  appears  to  be  something  about  this 
particular  brand  of  coffee  that  is  very  pleasing  to  the 
Navajo  palate  and  he  stubbornly  refuses  to  accept  a 
substitute.  Wherever  Indians  can  be  found  who  have 
not  given  themselves  up  to  the  white  man 's  fire  water, 
they  are  almost  always  harmless  and  peaceable  people. 
Few  tribes  can  now  be  found  in  the  United  States  in 
which  great  numbers  of  the  men,  and  even  many  of 
the  women,  do  not  drink  intoxicating  liquors  to  excess. 
There  is  no  such  thing  as  moderation  when  it  comes 
to  drinking  whiskey  with  an  Indian.  He  drinks  it  to 
get  drunk  and  he  gets  drunk.  The  Navajos  are  per- 
haps as  free  from  the  curse  as  any  tribe  now  to  be 
found  in  our  country,  and  as  a  result  we  find  them 
generally  free  from  evil  vices  and  immoral  practices. 
There  is  not  a  community  of  people  of  equal  number 
in  the  world  more  law  abiding,  peaceable  and  indus- 
trious as  a  class  than  the  Navajo  Indians. 


CHAPTER  VII 

Navajo  Mythology 

Navajo  mythology  is  replete  with  legends  handed 
down  from  father  to  son  telling  the  origin  of  every 

good  and  evil  thing  known  to 
Myth  and  Tradition    his  simple  life.    While  he  does 

not  contemplate  a  First  Great 

Cause  or  its  attendant  effect,  yet  his  legends  contain 
the  story  of  the  creation  of  his  present  world,  —  the 
sun,  moon,  stars,  sky,  rivers,  mountains,  cliffs  and 
canyons.  He  has  a  legend  of  a  flood  which  destroyed 
all  the  wicked  people.  There  is  also  the  Wind  god, 
Rain  god,  War  god,  etc.,  to  whom  he  attributes 
omnipotent  powers. 

While  the  Navajo  has  produced  no  literature  and 
has  no  great  epics  or  lyrics,  still  he  has  created  elab- 
orate dramas.  All  of  his  dramas  are  founded  on 
myths.  Many  of  these  myths  are  very  long  so  that 
perhaps  few  Navajos  know  thoroughly  more  than 
two  or  three  of  the  great  myths.  Like  the  myths 
of  most  all  other  people,  they  may  be  either  explana- 
tory, such  as  attempt  to  explain  the  mysteries  of 
existence  and  universal  life;  aesthetic,  those  de- 
signed to  elicit  emotion  and  give  pleasure;  or  the 
romantic  myth,  which  displays  the  character  of  some 
favorite  hero.  In  Navajo  mythology  may  be  found 
all  of  these  classes  of  myths.  We  will  not  here  con- 


68  THE  NAVAJOS 

sider  the  stage  of  the  Navajo  myth,  whether  in  the 
hecastotheism,  zootheism,  physitheism  or  psychotheism 
stage. 

A  few  of  his  myths,  taken  from  acknowledged 
authorities,  follow: 

CREATION  OP  THE  FIRST  MAN  AND  WOMAN 

(According  to  Dr.  Matthews) 
The  gods  laid  a  buckskin  on  the  ground  with  the 
head  to  the  west;  on  this  they  placed  two  ears  of 
corn,  one  yellow,  one  white, 

Some  Navajo  Myths     with  their  tips  to  the  east; 
and  over  the  corn  they  spread 

another  buckskin  with  its  head  to  the  east;  under 
the  white  ear  they  put  the  feather  of  a  white 
eagle,  under  the  yellow  ear  the  feather  of  a  yel- 
low eagle.  Then  the  white  wind  blew  from  the 
east  and  the  yellow  wind  blew  from  the  west,  be- 
tween the  skins.  While  the  wind  was  blowing,  eight 
of  the  Mirage  People  came  and  walked  around  the  ob- 
jects on  the  ground  four  times,  and  as  they  walked  the 
eagle  feathers,  whose  tips  protruded  from  between  the 
buckskins,  were  seen  to  move.  When  the  Mirage 
People  had  finished  their  walk  the  upper  buckskin 
was  lifted,  —  the  ears  of  corn  had  disappeared ;  a  man 
and  a  woman  lay  there  in  their  stead.  The  white  ear 
of  corn  had  been  changed  into  a  man,  the  yellow  ear 
into  a  woman. 

The  pair  thus  created  were  First  Man  and  First 
Woman. 

MYTH  OF  THE  OLD  MAN  AND  WOMAN  OF  THE  FIRST  WORLD 

(According  to  Stevenson) 

In  the  lower  world  four  gods  were  created  by 
Etseastin  and  Etseasun.  These  gods  were  so  annoyed  by 
the  ants  that  they  said,  "Let  us  go  to  the  four  points 


THE  NAVAJOS  69 

of  the  world."  A  spring  was  found  at  each  of  the 
cardinal  points,  and  each  god  took  possession  of  a 
spring,  which  he  jealously  guarded. 

Etseastin  and  Etseasun  were  jealous  because  they 
had  no  water  and  they  needed  some  to  produce  nour- 
ishment. The  old  man  finally  obtained  a  little  water 
from  each  of  the  gods  and  planted  it,  and  from  it  he 
raised  a  spring  such  as  the  gods  had.  From  this 
spring  came  corn  and  other  vegetation.  Etseastin  and 
Etseasun  sat  on  opposite  sides  of  the  spring  facing 
each  other,  and  sang  and  prayed  and  talked  to  some- 
body about  themselves,  and  thus  they  originated  wor- 
ship. One  day  the  old  man  saw  some  kind  of  fruit  in 
the  middle  of  the  spring.  He  tried  to  reach  it  but 
he  could  not,  and  asked  the  spider  woman  (a  member 
of  his  family)  to  get  it  for  him.  She  spun  a  web 
across  the  water  and  by  its  use  procured  the  fruit, 
which  proved  to  be  a  large  white  shell,  quite  as  large 
as  a  Tusayan  basket.  The  following  day  Etseastin 
discovered  another  kind  of  fruit  in  the  spring  which 
the  spider  woman  also  brought  him;  this  fruit  was 
the  turquoise.  The  third  day  still  another  kind  of 
fruit  was  discovered  by  him  and  obtained  by  the 
spider  woman ;  this  was  the  abalone  shell.  The  fourth 
day  produced  the  black  stone  bead,  which  was  also 
procured. 

After  ascending  into  the  upper  world  Etseastin 
visited  the  four  corners  to  see  what  he  could  find. 
(They  had  brought  a  bit  of  everything  from  the  lower 
world  with  them.)  From  the  east  he  brought  eagle 
feathers;  from  the  south  feathers  from  the  blue- jay; 
in  the  west  he  found  hawk  feathers,  and  in  the  north 
speckled  nightbird  (whippoorwill)  feathers.  Etseastin 
and  Etseasun  carried  these  to  a  spring,  placing  them 
toward  the  cardinal  points.  The  eagle  plumes  were 
laid  to  the  east  and  near  by  them  white  corn  and 
white  shell;  the  blue  feathers  were  laid  to  the  south 


70  THE  NAVAJOS 

with  blue  corn  and  turquoise ;  the  hawk  feathers  were 
laid  to  the  west  with  yellow  corn  and  abalone  shell; 
and  to  the  north  were  laid  the  whippoorwill  feathers 
with  black  beads  and  corn  of  all  the  several  colors. 
The  old  man  and  woman  sang  and  prayed  as  they 
had  done  at  the  spring  in  the  lower  world.  They 
prayed  to  the  east  and  the  white  wolf  was  created; 
to  the  south,  and  the  otter  appeared ;  to  the  west,  and 
the  mountain  lion  came ;  and  to  the  north,  the  beaver. 
Etseastin  made  these  animals  rulers  over  the  several 
points  from  which  they  came. 

When  the  white  of  daylight  met  the  yellow  of  sun- 
set in  mid-heavens  they  embraced,  and  white  gave 
birth  to  the  coyote;  yellow  to  the  yellow  fox.  Blue 
of  the  south  and  black  of  the  north  similarly  met, 
giving  birth,  blue  to  blue  fox  and  north  to  badger. 

Blue  and  yellow  foxes  were  given  to  the  Pueblos ; 
coyote  and  badgers  remain  with  the  Navajo;  but 
Great  Wolf  is  ruler  over  them  all.  Great  Wolf  was 
the  chief  who  counseled  separation  of  the  sexes. 

THE   CREATION  OF   THE  SUN 

(According  to  Stevenson) 

The  first  three  worlds  were  neither  good  nor 
healthful.  They  moved  all  the  time  and  made  the 
people  dizzy.  Upon  ascending  into  this  world  the 
Navajos  found  only  darkness  and  they  said,  "We 
must  have  light." 

In  the  Ure  Mountains  lived  two  women,  Ahson- 
nutli,  the  turquoise  hermaphrodite,  and  Yolaikaiason, 
the  white  shell  woman.  These  two  women  were  sent 
for  by  the  Navajo,  who  told  them  they  wished  light. 
The  Navajo  had  already  partially  separated  light  into 
its  several  colors.  Next  to  the  floor  was  white  indi- 
cating dawn,  upon  the  white  blue  was  spread  for  morn- 
ing, and  on  the  blue  yellow  for  sunset,  and  next  was 


THE  NAVAJOS  71 

black  representing  night.  They  had  prayed  long  and 
continuously  over  these,  but  their  prayers  had  availed 
nothing.  The  two  women  on  arriving  told  the  people 
to  have  patience  and  their  prayers  would  eventually 
be  answered. 

Night  had  a  familiar,  who  was  always  at  his  ear. 
This  person  said,  ''Send  for  the  youth  at  the  great 
falls."  Night  sent  as  his  messenger  a  shooting  star. 
The  youth  soon  appeared  and  said,  ' '  Ahsonnutli,  the 
hermaphrodite,  has  white  beads  in  her  right  breast 
and  turquoise  in  her  left.  We  will  tell  her  to  lay 
them  on  darkness  and  see  what  she  can  do  with  her 
prayers."  This  she  did.  The  youth  from  the  great 
falls  said  to  Ahsonnutli,  "You  have  carried  the  white 
shell  beads  and  turquoise  a  long  time;  you  should 
know  what  to  say."  Then  with  a  crystal  dipped  in 
pollen  she  marked  eyes  and  mouth  on  the  turquoise 
and  on  the  white  shell-beads,  and  forming  a  circle 
around  these  with  the  crystal  she  produced  a  slight 
light  from  the  white-shell  bead  and  a  greater  light 
from  the  turquoise,  but  the  light  was  insufficient. 

Twelve  men  lived  at  each  of  the  cardinal  points. 
The  forty-eight  men  were  sent  for.  After  their  arrival 
Ahsonnutli  sang  a  song,  the  men  sitting  opposite  to 
her;  yet  even  with  their  presence  the  song  failed  to 
secure  the  needed  light.  Two  eagle  plumes,  were 
placed  upon  each  cheek  of  the  turquoise  and  two  on 
the  cheeks  of  the  white-shell  beads  and  one  at  each 
of  the  cardinal  points.  The  twelve  men  of  the  east 
placed  twelve  turquoises  at  the  east  of  the  faces. 
The  twelve  men  of  the  south  placed  twelve  white-shell 
beads  at  the  south.  The  twelve  men  of  the  west  placed 
twelve  turquoises  at  the  west.  Those  of  the  north 
placed  twelve  white  shelled  beads  at  that  point.  Then 
with  the  crystal  dipped  in  corn  pollen  they  made  a 
circle  embracing  the  whole.  The  wish  still  remained 
unrealized.  Then  Ahsonnutli  held  the  crystal  over 


72  THE  NAVAJOS 

the  turquoise  face,  whereupon  it  lighted  into  a  blaze. 
The  people  retreated  far  back  on  account  of  the  great 
heat,  which  continued  increasing.  The  men  from  the 
four  points  found  the  heat  so  intense  that  they  arose, 
but  they  could  hardly  stand,  as  the  heavens  were  so 
close  to  them.  They  looked  up  and  saw  two  rain- 
bows, one  across  the  other  from  east  to  west,  and  from 
north  to  south.  The  heads  and  feet  of  the  rainbows 
almost  touched  the  men's  heads.  The  men  tried  to 
raise  the  great  light,  but  each  time  they  failed.  Final- 
ly a  man  and  woman  appeared,  whence  they  knew  not. 
The  man 's  name  was  Atseatsine  and  the  woman 's  name 
was  Atseatsan.  They  were  asked,  "How  can  this  sun 
be  got  up."  They  replied,  "We  know;  we  heard  the 
people  down  here  trying  to  raise  it,  and  this  is  why 
we  came."  "Chanteen"  (sun's  rays),  exclaimed  the 
man,  "I  have  the  chanteen;  I  have  a  crystal  from 
which  I  can  light  the  chanteen,  and  I  have  the  rain- 
bow; with  these  three  I  can  raise  the  sun."  The  peo- 
ple said,  "Go  ahead  and  raise  it."  When  he  had  ele- 
vated the  sun  a  short  distance  it  tipped  a  little  and 
burned  vegetation  and  scorched  the  people,  for  it  was 
still  too  near.  Then  the  people  said  to  Atseatsine  and 
Atseatsan,  "Raise  the  sun  higher,"  and  they  continued 
to  elevate  it,  and  yet  it  continued  to  burn  everything. 
They  were  then  called  upon  to  "lift  it  higher  still,  as 
high  as  possible,"  but  after  a  certain  height  was 
reached  their  power  failed ;  it  would  go  no  farther. 

The  couple  then  made  four  poles,  two  of  turquoise 
and  two  of  white-shell  beads,  and  each  was  put  under 
the  sun,  and  with  these  poles  the  twelve  men  at  each 
of  the  cardinal  points  raised  it.  They  could  not  get 
it  high  enough  to  prevent  the  people  and  grass  from 
burning.  The  people  then  said,  "Let  us  stretch  the 
world";  so  the  twelve  men  at  each  point  expanded  the 
world.  The  sun  continued  to  rise  as  the  world  ex- 
panded, and  began  to  shine  with  less  heat,  but  when 


A  Navajo  Head  Man 


THE  NAVAJOS  73 

it  reached  the  meridian  the  heat  became  great  and  the 
people  suffered  much.  They  crawled  everywhere  to 
find  shade.  Then  the  voice  of  Darkness  went  four 
times  around  the  world  telling  the  men  at  the  car- 
dinal points  to  go  on  expanding  the  world.  "I  want 
all  this  trouble  stopped,"  said  Darkness;  "the  people 
are  suffering  and  all  is  burning;  you  must  continue 
stretching."  And  the  men  blew  and  stretched,  and 
after  a  time  they  saw  the  sun  rise  beautifully,  and 
when  the  sun  again  reached  the  meridian  it  was  only 
tropical.  It  was  then  just  right,  and  as  far  as  the 
eye  could  reach  the  earth  was  encircled  first  with  the 
white  dawn  of  day,  then  with  the  blue  of  early  morn- 
ing, and  all  things  were  perfect.  And  Ahsonnutli 
commanded  the  twelve  men  to  go  to  the  east,  south, 
west  and  north,  to  hold  up  the  heavens,  which  office 
they  are  supposed  to  perform  to  this  day. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
Ceremonies 

The    Navajos    have    a    great    many    ceremonies 
which  they  practice  with  as  much  earnestness  and 

devotion  as  was  the  custom  of  their  fathers 
Ha-tal-i  before  them.  Many  of  their  ceremonies, 

which  are  usually  performed  for  the  heal- 
ing of  the  sick,  are  very  long,  elaborate  and  intricate 
rites,  being  often  of  nine  days  duration.  The  priest 
of  the  ceremony  is  called  ha-tal-i,  which  signifies  chant- 
er, or  singer.  It  requires  many  years  of  patient  work 
to  learn  one  of  the  great  rites  perfectly,  there  being 
in  many  of  them  more  than  two  hundred  different 
songs  to  be  memorized,  and  no  priest  attempts  to  learn 
more  than  one  of  the  great  rites,  though  he  may  know 
some  of  the  rites  of  many  of  the  minor  ceremonies. 

In  many  of  their  ceremonies  the  Navajos  mas- 
querade in  the  paraphernalia  of  their  favorite  gods, 
and  while  posing  as  a  god  they  may  gesticulate  and  ut- 
ter strange  sounds  yet  they  must  never  speak.  The 
Navajo  is  for  the  time  being,  to  all  intents  and  pur- 
poses, the  god  he  represents  himself  to  be,  and  he  hears 
prayers  and  accepts  sacrifices,  not  as  a  Navajo,  but  as 
the  god  he  is  impersonating.  He  deceives  no  one,  but 
acts  simply  as  an  impersonator  of  divinity,  much  the 
same  as  the  priests  of  our  Christian  churches  do  when 


THE  NAVAJOS  75 

they  receive  offerings,  hear  confessions  and  dispense 
blessings. 

The  ceremony  of  the  Mountain  Chant  is  perhaps 
one  of  the  most  elaborate  rites  celebrated  by  the  Nava- 

jos.  It  is  founded  on  a  myth, 
The  Mountain  Chant  the  burden  of  which  is  the 

story  of  the  wanderings  of 

a  family  of  six  Navajos,  the  father,  mother,  two  sons 
and  two  daughters.  These  people  wandered  for  many 
days  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Carrizo  mountains,  then 
journeyed  far  to  the  north,  crossing  the  San  Juan 
river.  The  legend  relates  that  the  two  sons  provided 
meat  for  the  family  by  hunting  rabbits,  wood  rats 
and  other  small  animals,  and  how  the  two  daughters 
gathered  edible  seeds  and  roots  on  the  way.  It  was 
a  long  time  before  the  young  men  learned  to  follow 
the  trail  of  the  deer,  and  on  one  occasion,  after  re- 
turning to  camp  without  the  coveted  deer,  the  old  man 
became  much  provoked  at  the  stupidity  of  his  sons  and 
said  to  them,  "You  kill  nothing  because  you  know 
nothing.  If  you  had  knowledge  you  would  be  success- 
ful. I  pity  you."  He  then  directed  them  to  build  a 
sweat-house,  giving  them  instructions  as  to  the  details 
of  its  construction.  After  undergoing  the  purifying 
ordeal  of  the  sweat  bath,  he  began  slowly  and  carefully 
to  teach  them  all  the  arts  of  wood-craft ;  how  to  sur- 
prise the  vigilant  deer,  and  carefully,  step  by  step, 
they  were  initiated  into  the  mysteries  of  the  chase.  Af- 
ter many  days  of  careful  drilling,  these  sons  made 
great  preparations  for  going  on  a  big  hunt  in  the  dis- 


76  THE  NAVAJOS 

tant  mountains.  They  returned  after  many  days,  each 
with  a  deer  he  had  slain,  together  with  much  dried 
meat  and  many  skins. 

It  finally  developed  that  the  old  man  was  a  great 
prophet,  and  the  myth  goes  on  to  relate  how  the  two 
sons  disobeyed  their  father's  instructions  and  the  pun- 
ishment that  was  visited  upon  them  by  the  gods  in 
consequence  thereof.  Afterwards  the  prophet  was 
captured  by  the  Utes,  always  at  enmity  with  the 
Navajos,  bound  hand  and  foot  and  sentenced  by  the 
Ute  council  to  be  whipped  to  death.  An  angel  visited 
the  old  man  in  the  night  and  unloosed  his  thongs  and 
the  prophet  took  his  flight,  and  after  undergoing  many 
hair-breadth  escapes  finally  reached  the  home  of  the 
gods  who  taught  him  how  to  make  offerings  to  the 
deities.  They  also  taught  him  the  mysteries  of  the 
dry  sand-paintings,  and  how  to  perform  the  great 
healing  rites  of  the  Mountain  Chant. 

When  the  prophet  at  last  returned  to  his  people, 
a  great  feast  and  dance  was  given  in  his  honor.  There 
was  much  rejoicing  and  making  merry.  He  was  washed 
from  head  to  foot  and  dried  with  the  sacred  corn  meal. 
He  was  then  asked  to  relate  his  experiences  in  the 
strange  land  of  the  gods.  He  now  proceeded  to  teach 
his  people  the  new  rites  he  had  learned  from  the  gods 
and  the  preparation  and  use  of  the  sacrificial  sticks. 
A  day  was  appointed  when  this  new  ceremony  would 
be  performed ;  all  the  neighboring  tribes  were  invited 
to  attend  and  there  was  much  rejoicing  and  exchang- 
ing of  friendly  good  will.  The  ceremony  was  contin- 


THE  NAVAJOS  77 

ued  through  nine  days  and  nights,  at  the  conclusion  of 
which  the  prophet  vanished  in  the  air  and  was  seen 
no  more  on  earth. 

And  this  is  the  account  the  Navajos  give  of  the 
origin  of  the  ceremony  of  the  Mountain  Chant. 

^  This  ceremony  is,  in  reality,  a  great  passion  play. 
The  costumes  are  numerous,  and  elaborate.  There  is 
much  dancing,  so  called,  but  it  is  really  not  dancing  at 
all,  simply  the  acting  out  of  the  drama  of  the  great 
cosmic  myth  in  prepetuating  the  religious  symbols  of 
the  tribe.  \ 

The  following  description  of  the  "Fire  Play"  is 
taken  from  Dr.  Washington  Matthews : 

The  eleventh  dance  was  the  fire  dance,  or  fire 
play,  which  was  the  most  picturesque  and  startling 

of  all.  Every  man  except  the  leader 
The  Fire  Play  bore  a  long,  thick  bundle  of  shredded 

cedar  bark  in  each  hand  and  one  had 
two  extra  bundles  on  his  shoulders  for  the  later  use 
of  the  leader.  The  latter  carried  four  small  fagots 
of  the  same  material  in  his  hands.  Four  times  they 
all  danced  around  the  fire,  waving  their  bundles  of 
bark  toward  it.  They  halted  in  the  east;  the  leader 
advanced  towards  the  central  fire,  lighted  one  of  his 
fagots,  and  trumpeting  loudly  threw  it  to  the  east 
over  the  fence  of  the  corral.  He  performed  a  similar 
act  at  the  south,  at  the  west,  and  at  the  north;  but 
before  the  northern  brand  was  thrown  he  lighted  with 
it  the  bark  bundles  of  his  comrades.  As  each  brand 
disappeared  over  the  fence  some  of  the  spectators 
blew  into  their  hands  and  made  a  motion  as  if  tossing 
some  substance  into  the  departing  flame.  When  the 


78  THE  NAVAJOS 

fascicles  were  all  lighted  the  whole  band  began  a  wild 
race  around  the  fire.  At  first  they  kept  close  together 
and  spat  upon  one  another  some  substance  of  supposed 
medicinal  virtue.  Soon  they  scattered  and  ran  ap- 
parently without  concert,  the  rapid  racing  causing  the 
brands  to  throw  out  long  brilliant  streamers  of  flame 
over  the  hands  and  arms  of  the  dancers.  Then  they 
proceeded  to  apply  the  brands  to  their  own  nude 
bodies  and  to  the  bodies  of  their  comrades  in  front 
of  them,  no  man  ever  once  turning  around;  at  times 
the  dancer  struck  his  victim  vigorous  blows  with  his 
flaming  wand ;  again  he  seized  the  flame  as  if  it  were 
a  sponge,  and,  keeping  close  to  the  one  pursued, 
rubbed  the  back  of  the  latter  for  several  moments,  as 
if  he  were  bathing  him.  In  the  meantime  the  sufferer 
would  perhaps  catch  up  with  some  one  in  front  of 
him  and  in  turn  bathe  him  in  flame.  At  times  when 
a  dancer  found  no  one  in  front  of  him  he  proceeded 
to  sponge  his  own  back,  and  might  keep  this  up  while 
making  two  or  three  circuits  around  the  fire  or  until 
he  caught  up  with  some  one  else.  At  each  application 
of  the  blaze  the  loud  trumpeting  was  heard,  and  it 
often  seemed  as  if  a  great  flock  of  cranes  was  winging 
its  way  over  head  southward  through  the  darkness. 
If  a  brand  became  extinguished  it  was  lighted  again 
in  the  central  fire ;  but  when  it  was  so  far  consumed  as 
to  be  no  longer  held  conveniently  in  the  hand,  the 
dancer  dropped  it  and  rushed,  trumpeting,  out  of  the 
corral.  Thus,  one  by  one,  they  all  departed.  When 
they  were  gone  many  of  the  spectators  came  forward, 
picked  up  some  of  the  fallen  fragments  of  cedar  bark, 
lighted  them,  and  bathed  their  hands  in  the  flames  as  a 
charm  against  the  evil  effects  of  fire. 

The  Hoshkawn  Dance,  the  Plumed  Arrow  Dance 
and  the  Wand  Dance  are  some  of  the  other  important 


THE  NAVAJOS  79 

ceremonies  in  the  great  rite  of  the  Mountain  Chant. 
Few  white  people,  except  those  living  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  Navajos,  have  ever  witnessed  many  of 
the  Navajo  ceremonies  for  the  reason  that  as  these 
ceremonies  are  primarily  for  the  healing  of  the  sick, 
no  regular  time  for  holding  them  is  ever  appointed  by 
the  priests.  When  a  Navajo  gets  sick  it  is  necessary 
for  his  friends  and  relatives  to  hold  a  consultation 
and  decide  on  what  one  of  the  many  ceremonies  will 
most  likely  effect  a  cure.  This  decided,  a  theurgist 
is  selected  who  is  familiar  with  the  rites  to  be  per- 
formed and  he  is  immediately  sought  out  and  bar- 
gained with.  The  patient  pays  all  the  expenses  of 
the  ceremony  which  is  often  a  very  elaborate  affair 
and  very  expensive.  All  visitors  are  expected  to  feast, 
make  merry  and  have  a  good  time,  at  the  expense  of 
the  patient. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  features,  to  the  casual 
observer  of  the  great  religious  ceremonies  of  the  Nav- 
ajos, is  the  elaborate  paintings  with 
Sand  Paintings  various  colored  dry  sands.  Careful 
preparations  are  made  in  the  lodge 
by  covering  the  floor  with  a  coating  of  sand  about 
three  inches  in  thickness.  A  black  pigment  is  then 
prepared  from  charcoal  for  the  black,  yellow  sand- 
stone for  the  yellow,  red  sandstone  for  the  red  and 
white  sandstone  for  the  white.  A  kind  of  blue  is 
made  by  mixing  the  black  with  the  yellow. 

Before  beginning  the  painting  the  surface  of  the 
sand  is  carefully  smoothed  with  a  broad  oaken  batten. 


80  THE  NAVAJOS 

Young  men  usually  do  the  painting  under  the  careful 
and  ever  watchful  eye  of  the  shaman.  There  is  a  set 
rule  which  must  be  followed  in  each  of  the  four  great 
paintings.  The  Navajo  shaman  believes  that  to  depart 
from  the  fixed  order  a,;  handed  down  from  father 
to  son  through  many  generations,  would  0e  to  invite 
the  enmity  of  the  gods.  The  true  design  must  be 
followed,  although  within  certain  limits  the  artist 
may  display  his  skill. 

In  order  to  understand  these  sand  paintings  it 
is  necessary  to  know  thoroughly  the  myths  upon  which 
they  are  based.  Perhaps  no  white  nian  has  ever  yet 
been  able  fully  to  understand  and  appreciate  their 
symbolism.  Since  the  Navajos  do  not  preserve  any 
patterns  to  go  by,  it  is  wonderful  how  they  are  enabled 
to  preserve  all  the  details  of  these  elaborate  paintings. 
Yet  they  claim  not  to  have  varied  in  any  essential 
detail  in  all  these  hundreds  of  years. 


en 


CHAPTER  IX 
Their  Arts  and  Crafts 

From  a  marauding  robber  and  relentless  warrior, 
to  a  peace-loving  industrious  producer,  is  the  evo- 
lution of  the  Navajo  Indian.  A 
History  of  the  little  more  than  forty  years  ago 
Art  of  Weaving  he  was  an  outlaw,  requiring  a  regi- 
ment of  armed  men  to  keep  him  in 
subjection.  The  Navajo  had  energy  plus.  He  was 
always  doing  something,  mostly  something  bad.  His 
character  was  the  product  of  his  own  misdirected 
energy.  It  required,  as  we  have  seen,  the  strategy 
of  Kit  Carson  and  hundreds  of  trained  soldiers  to 
teach  him  the  lesson  of  respectful  obedience  to  lawful 
authority,  and  to  convince  him  that  his  rights  ceased 
where  the  rights  of  others  began. 

About  the  year  1675  the  various  Pueblo  tribes 
formed  a  coalition  for  the  overthrow  of  Spanish  do- 
minion in  New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  and  the  day  of 
retribution  came  in  1680,  for  it  was  in  that  year  that 
they  drove  the  Spaniards  from  their  land,  killing  and 
destroying  everything  that  reminded  them  of  Spanish 
oppression.  When  the  Spaniards  returned  a  few  years 
later  carrying  their  bloody  inquisitions  into  these 
defenseless  Pueblo  villages,  many  of  the  inhabitants 
were  unable  successfully  to  resist  the  iniquities  that 


82  THE  NAVAJOS 

were  perpetrated  against  them  and  so  a  great  many 
of  the  Pueblos  fled  to  the  Navajos  for  protection. 

At  this  time  the  Navajos  depended  chiefly  upon 
the  spoils  of  conquest  for  their  support.  They  toiled 
not,  neither  did  they  spin.  Their  neighbors,  the 
Pueblos,  did  both.  They  raised  corn  and  cotton  in 
the  valleys,  and  when  the  crops  were  gathered  they 
carried  them  up  the  steep  mesas  and  stored  their  food 
and  fiber  away  in  the  hidden  recesses  of  their  pueblos 
for  safe  keeping,  to  be  used  as  occasion  required. 
Their  corn  furnished  them  food  for  winter  and  their 
cotton  they  wove  into  blankets,  ceremonial  belts  and 
into  cloth  for  clothing.  The  Navajos  found  these 
peaceful,  industrious  Pueblo  Indians  an  easy  prey, 
and  often  laid  waste  their  fields  and  plundered  -their 
villages. 

With  the  Navajo  it  has  been  the  survival  of  the 
fittest.  The  outlaws  and  daring  marauders  of  other 
tribes  were  attracted  to  them  by  common  interests. 
Only  the  strong,  brave  and  mentally  alert  could  keep 
pace  with  the  bold,  reckless  Navajos,  hence  the  weak, 
feeble  and  decrepit  fell  by  the  wayside.  Being  thus 
subjected  to  the  weeding  out  process,  as  the  years 
went  by  the  tribe  grew  strong,  both  mentally  and 
physically. 

We  have  already  stated  that  the  Navajo  can  give 
no  intelligent  account  of  his  ancestry  or  of  the  country 
from  whence  he  came.  His  past  history  is  practically 
a  blank.  He,  like  all  other  races  of  mankind,  is  a 
simple  sequence.  He  is  what  he  is  to-day  because  he 
did  what  he  did  in  days  gone  by.  But  for  the  coming 


THE  NAVAJOS  83 

of  the  Spaniard  his  history  might  be  very  different. 
He  possessed  neither  horse,  sheep,  goats  nor  cattle,  but 
either  by  barter  or  stealth  he  early  came  into  posses- 
sion of  them.  The  Spaniards  brought  sheep  into  his 
country  and  thenceforth  the  Navajos  were  to  be  the 
greatest  aboriginal  pastoral  people  in  the  New  World. 

As  long  as  the  Navajo  carried  on  aggressive  war- 
fare he  made  little  progress  in  the  arts  of  peace.  Not 
until  the  oppressed  of  the  more  peaceful  and  progres- 
sive sedentary  tribes  began  to  flee  to  him  for  protec- 
tion, did  he  take  up  any  of  the  important  handicrafts 
which  now  distinguish  him  so  signally  from  other 
Indians.  The  Pueblos  raised  cotton  and  wove  it  into 
cloth,  but  the  Navajo  knew  nothing  about  weaving 
before  the  introduction  of  sheep  by  the  Spaniards.  He 
did  not  grow  cotton,  nor  is  it  anywhere  evident  that 
he  knew  the  first  principles  of  manufacturing  raw 
material  into  finished  products.  He  evidently  learned 
the  art  of  weaving  from  the  Pueblos  who  fled  to  him 
for  protection  from  the  horrors  of  the  Spanish  In- 
quisition. 

While  the  Navajos  give  considerable  attention  to 
agriculture  and  the  raising  of  horses  and  cattle,  still 
the  principal  industry  among  them  is  the  growing  of 
sheep.  It  is  a  poor  family,  indeed,  that  does  not  pos- 
sess a  flock  of  sheep  and  goats.  Goats  are  to  be  found 
in  almost  every  Navajo  herd.  They  are  prized  by 
them  chiefly  for  their  flesh  and  pelts.  Goats  are  also 
desirable  additions  to  their  flocks  from  their  habit  of 
leading  out  and  scattering  the  sheep  sufficiently  to 
graze  over  a  large  area  which  is  necessary  for  the  best 


84  THE  NAVAJOS 

development  of  flocks  in  the  Navajo  country  where  five 
acres  of  land  is  required  to  support  a  single  sheep. 
The  Navajos  also  claim  that  goats  are  useful  in  pro- 
tecting the  sheep  from  attacks  by  wolves  and  coyotes. 
The  goat  will  show  fight  while  the  sheep  meekly  sub- 
mits to  his  fate. 

While  the  Navajo  has  always  possessed  marked 
tribal  characteristics  that  have  attracted  the  attention 
of  tourists  and  ethnologists  for  a  great  many  years, 
it  is  his  native  wool  blanket  that  has  given  him  an 
universal  reputation.  Every  honest  person  and  every 
lover  of  true  art,  admires  truth  expressed  in  the  crea- 
tion of  the  mind  and  in  the  product  of  the  hand. 
Beauty  and  utility  are  the  marked  characteristics  of 
the  Navajo  blanket.  Our  North  American  Indians 
have,  as  a  rule,  produced  very  little  that  the  average 
white  man  considers  useful  to  present-day  civilization. 
Some  tribes,  like  the  Sioux  and  0  jib  ways,  do  beautiful 
bead  work,  the  Pueblos  make  artistic  pottery,  and  sev- 
eral tribes  in  Arizona  and  California  make  beautiful 
baskets.  But  the  white  man  has  little  use  for  these 
things  and  if  he  purchases  them  at  all,  which  he  often 
does,  it  is  simply  to  please  his  fancy  and  to  satisfy 
his  craving  for  something  Indian.  We  have  witnessed, 
during  the  past  few  years,  the  " Indian  fad,"  taking 
the  country  almost  by  storm.  There  has  been  a  great 
demand  for  all  sorts  of  Indian  handiwork.  All  sorts 
of  Indian  purses  and  moccasins,  manufactured  in  large 
quantities  in  the  East,  have  been  placed  on  the  market 
by  enterprising  dealers.  The  various  Indian  tribes 
throughout  the  west  also  make  a  great  many  things 


THE  NAVAJOS  85 

simply  to  sell  to  tourists.  The  Indian  finds  in  this 
work  an  occupation  that  is  congenial  to  him  as  well 
as  a  source  of  income,  and  the  tourist  gets  what  he 
wants,  "a  genuine  Indian  curio"  to  take  back  home 
with  him  as  material  evidence  that  he  has  seen  a  ' '  sure- 
enough  ' '  Indian. 

But  it  is  quite  different  with  the  Navajo  blanket. 
This  possesses  intrinsic  value.  While  many  people 
believe  these  blankets  are  made  in  Eastern  factories 
by  the  " Yankees"  and  shipped  to  Western  traders  to 
deceive  "  tenderfoot "  tourists,  this  is  a  mistake.  The 
Indian  buys  the  factory  made  blanket  for  his  own 
use.  The  Mackinaw  robes  are  worn  by  all  ''blanket" 
Indians.  They  are  usually  of  bright  colors  and  elab- 
orate pattern,  the  designs  being  often  taken  from  Nav- 
ajo blankets  and  other  Indian  handicraft. 

It  may  not  be  generally  known,  but  it  is  a  fact, 
nevertheless,  that  the  Navajo  does  not  wear  his  own 
make  of  blankets.  They  are  too  valuable,  for  one  rea- 
son, since  one  Navajo  blanket  of  good  weave  and  pat- 
tern, is  worth  half  a  dozen  ordinary  Indian  robes  sold 
by  the  trader.  Another  reason  is  that  the  Navajo 
blanket  is  too  heavy  and  cumbersome  to  wear  as  a 
robe.  The  Indian  much  prefers  the  factory  made 
blanket  for  his  own  use,  and  if  we  wore  blankets  as 
he  does,  I  am  sure  we  would  prefer  them  also.  We 
should  soon  grow  very  weary  of  carrying  a  ten  or 
fifteen  pound  Navajo  blanket  around  our  shoulders; 
besides  they  are  very  stiff  and  do  not  easily  adjust 
themselves  to  the  form  of  the  body,  a  quality  very 
desirable  in  a  robe  of  any  sort. 


86  THE  NAVAJOS 

The  art  of  weaving  is  comparatively  a  new  art 
among  the  Navajos.  As  previously  stated  they  learned 
it  from  the  Pueblos  and  since  the  introduction  of  sheep 
into  their  country  by  the  Spaniards.  It  is  certainly 
not  more  than  three  hundred  years  since  they  began  to 
weave,  if  it  is  that  long.  The  Pueblos  were  fine 
weavers  of  cloth  and  they  still  do  very  fine  weaving, 
but  it  is  in  the  weaving  of  blankets  or  rugs,  that  the 
Navajo  excels.  We  naturally  admire  the  happy  fac- 
ulty of  " catching  on"  in  any  people.  The  fact  that 
the  Navajo,  who  had  always  been  a  warrior  and  little 
given  to  useful  toil,  should  take  up  the  craft  of  a 
people  that  he  naturally  despised  and  held  in  con- 
tempt, and  so  excel  him  in  the  application  of  that  art 
as  to  practically  take  it  out  of  his  hands,  is  worthy 
of  the  emulation  of  the  highest  civilized  people  in  the 
world. 

A  genuine  Navajo  blanket  is  hand  made  from 
start  to  finish.  The  Indian  grows  his  own  wool,  cards 
it,  spins  it,  dyes  it,  and  weaves  it,  all  by  hand  in  the 
most  primitive  manner.  He  formerly  pulled  the  wool 
from  the  sheep  with  his  hands  but  with  the  advent 
of  the  trader  came  the  common  sheep-shears,  and  he  at 
once  began  the  use  of  them.  Were  you  to  visit  a 
Navajo  weaver's  hogan  or  lodge,  you  would  expect 
to  see  a  large  old  fashioned  loom  and  spinning  wheel 
something  like  those  our  great  grandmothers  used  in 
making  what  they  called  " home-spun  cloth,"  but  you 
would,  in  reality,  see  very  different  appliances  employ- 
ed in  carrying  on  this  textile  industry.  By  comparison 
the  loom  and  spinning  wheel  of  our  Colonial  ancestors 


THE  NAVAJOS  87 

were  as  intricate  and  complicated  as  the  machinery  of 
a  modern  woolen  mill.  The  Navajo  spinning  wheel 
consists  of  a  small  wooden  spindle  made  of  hard  wood, 
and  about  eighteen  inches  in  length,  on  which  is  fas- 
tened a  wooden  disc  three  or  four  inches  in  diameter. 
This  spindle  is  dextrously  twirled  with  the  fingers, 
while  the  soft  wool,  which  has  been  carded  with  a  pair 
of  old  fashioned  hand  cards  into  small  rolls,  is  twisted 
into  smooth,  strong  threads.  Often  this  process  is  re- 
peated four  or  five  times  in  order  to  secure  the  desired 
smoothness,  tenacity  and  fineness  in  the  yarn.  Think 
of  the  labor  required  in  the  very  first  processes.  After 
the  spinning  the  yarn  must  be  dyed.  Formerly  na- 
tive vegetable  dyes  were  used  exclusively.  These 
vegetable  dyes  never  faded  but  grew  more  mellow  and 
beautiful  with  age.  It  is  to  be  deplored  that  the 
ordinary  dyes  of  commerce  have  largely  taken  the 
place  of  the  vegetable  dyes  in  the  manufacture  of 
the  Navajo  blanket.  The  best  weavers  still  use 
some  of  the  common  colors  in  the  vegetable  dyes 
in  connection  with  the  analine  dyes  to  make  the  latter 
1  'set."  Perhaps  the  main  reason  for  discarding  the 
vegetable  dyes  by  the  Navajo  weavers  is  the  fact  that 
they  find  it  much  cheaper  and  by  far  less  work  to  use 
the  commercial  dyes.  They  also  get  a  greater  variety 
of  colors.  In  their  native  dyes  they  never  had  very 
many  different  colors.  They  had  a  beautiful  yellow 
which  they  made  from  a  yellow  flower  that  grows  in 
their  country.  But  they  had  no  red  such  as  they  now 
get  with  the  dyes  of  commerce,  except  as  they  pur- 
chased the  bayeta  cloth  from  the  Spanish  traders. 


88  THE  NAVAJOS 

This  was  their  first  bright  red.  It  cost  them  six  dol- 
lars per  pound  and  was  used  sparingly.  These  old 
bayeta  blankets  are  now  very  scarce  and  command 
high  prices. 

The  inventive  genius  of  the  white  man  has  never 
yet  been  able  to  reproduce  the  Navajo  effect  in  a 
blanket.  In  the  white  man's  loom  when  a  color  starts 
across  the  beam  it  must  be  carried  all  the  way  across 
and  appear  on  one  side  or  the  other  in  the  finished 
product.  Not  so  with  the  Navajo  loom.  This  loom 
is,  if  possible,  even  more  primitive  than  the  old  fash- 
ioned spinning  spindle.  Ordinarily  two  forked  posts 
driven  into  the  ground  with  a  cross  beam  supported 
in  the  crotches,  serves  for  the  frame.  The  chain  or 
warp  is  then  fastened  in  this  frame  and  sitting  flat 
on  the  ground,  the  weaver  picks  up  a  ball  of  yarn  and 
using  her  hand  as  a  shuttle  she  starts  across  the  beam, 
cutting  out  one  color  and  substituting  another  any- 
where she  desires.  This  gives  her  unlimited  range  for 
color  and  design.  The  Mexican  Indians  have  a  very 
rudely  constructed  loom,  something  like  the  old  time 
rag  carpet  loom  on  which  they  weave  a  blanket  that 
looks  something  like  the  Navajo  product.  But  in 
reality  it  is  very  different.  In  the  first  place,  these 
Mexican  rugs  are  of  uniform  size,  as  they  have  to  have 
a  different  loom  for  each  size  of  rug  made.  They  are 
also  of  a  very  loose,  slazy  weave  as  compared  to  the 
tight,  firm  weave  of  the  better  grade  of  Navajo  blan- 
kets. Several  blankets  are  woven  on  the  same  chain, 
which  is  cotton,  and  are  cut  apart  something  like 
towels,  leaving  a  fringe  at  the  ends  which  is  tied  or 


Navajo  Women  Shearing  Sheep 


THE  NAVAJOS  89 

braided  to  prevent  raveling.  They  are  often  sold  for 
genuine  Navajo  blankets,  but  they  are  in  every  way 
inferior  to  them. 

There  are  as  many  patterns  and  designs  as  there 
are  blankets  themselves,  no  two  ever  being  exactly 
alike.  One  very  striking  peculiarity  about  every  Nav- 
ajo blanket  is  its  incompleteness.  There  is  a  super- 
stition prevailing  among  the  Navajos,  more  inexorable 
than  law,  that  perfection  means  the  end.  They  be- 
lieve that  if  they  should  weave  a  perfectly  symmetrical 
blanket,  with  all  the  designs  carried  out  to  perfect 
completeness,  this  would  be  the  last  blanket  they 
would  ever  live  to  weave.  Hence  an  extra  stripe,  a 
larger  figure  or  some  peculiar  blending  of  colors  or 
curiously  wrought  design  will  invariably  appear  some- 
where in  every  blanket,  though  to  the  untutored  eye 
it  is  difficult  to  detect  it  in  the  finer  weaves. 

Perhaps  the  most  striking  pattern  woven  by  the 
Navajos  is  what  is  familiarly  known  as  the  "Old  Chief 
Design,"  or  Hon-el-chod-di.  This  differs  from  all 
other  designs  in  many  ways.  First,  it  is  wider  than 
long,  the  woof  being  about  one  and  one  half  times  as 
long  as  the  warp.  The  colors  in  this  pattern  are 
white,  black,  navy  blue  and  red  in  the  order  named. 
In  some  instances  the  navy  blue  is  omitted  and  in 
others  the  black.  The  pattern  is  alternating  black 
and  white  bars,  four  or  six  inches  wide,  extending 
across  the  blanket,  with  one  long  diamond  in  the 
center,  and  four  half-diamonds  mid-way*  of  the  top 
and  bottom  and  on  each  side,  and  a  quarter  diamond 
woven  on  each  of  the  four  corners.  A  dark  field  of 


90  THE  NAVAJOS 

black,  red  and  blue  generally  connects  the  central 
diamond  with  each  of  the  half-diamonds  to  the  right 
and  left.  In  olden  times,  when  the  Navajos  wore 
their  own  make  of  blankets,  only  the  chiefs  of  the 
tribe  were  permitted  to  wear  a  hon-el-chod-di  blanket. 

It  might  be  well  to  state  here  that  all  weaving 
among  the  Navajos  is  done  by  the  women,  but  among 
the  Pueblo  Indians  the  men  are  the  weavers.  There 
is  on  the  Navajo  reservation  a  hermaphrodite  who 
weaves  blankets.  He  weaves  only  one  blanket  each 
year  and  this  is  always  a  very  large,  fine  one.  It  is 
a  marked  characteristic  of  the  hermaphrodites  among 
the  Navajos  that  they  are  always  more  dextrous  at 
woman's  work  than  are  the  women  themselves.  Ac- 
cording to  Navajo  mythology  the  First  Man  and  the 
First  Woman  were  created  from  two  ears  of  corn  and 
the  first  fruits  of  their  marriage  were  twins  and  her- 
maphrodites. There  is  a  prevailing  superstition 
among  the  Navajos,  therefore,  that  the  hermaphrodite 
is  possessed  of  supernatural  powers,  and  the  herma- 
phrodite here  referred  to  is  a  noted  shaman,  or  medi- 
cine man,  of  the  tribe. 

The  Navajo  weaver  does  not  have  a  pattern  to  go 
by,  but  makes  up  her  design  as  she  goes  along.  These 
designs  reflect,  largely,  the  state  of  her  mind  at  the 
time  and  the  power  of  her  imagination.  During  late 
years,  since  the  wishes  of  the  whites  have  created  a 
demand  for  striking  designs,  many  sacred  emblems 
of  the  great  religious  ceremonies  are  woven  into  the 
blankets.  Oftentimes  they  are  very  intricate  and  if 
they  could  be  read  would  unfold  many  a  sacred  rite  or 


THE  NAVAJOS  91 

legend  and  reveal  the  thoughts  of  the  imaginative 
soul  who  so  silently  and  patiently  weaves  her  life  and 
character  into  her  blanket. 

The  following  tribute  to  the  Navajo  weaver  is 
from  the  pen  of  Edwin  L.  Sabin : 

Out  in  the  land  of  little  rain ; 
Of  cactus-rift  and  canyon  plain, 
An  Indian  woman,  short  and  swart, 
This  blanket  wove  with  patient  art; 
And  day  to  day,  through  all  a  year, 
Before  her  loom,  by  patterns  queer, 
She  stolidly  a  story  told, 
A  legend  of  her  people,  old. 

With  thread  on  thread  and  line  on  line, 
She  wrought  each  curious  design, 
The  symbol  of  the  day  and  night. 
Of  desert  dark  and  of  mountain  height, 
Of  journey  long  and  storm  beset, 
Of  village  passed  and  dangers  met, 
Of  wind  and  season,  cold  and  heat, 
Of  famine  harsh  and  plenty  sweet. 

Now  in  this  pale-face  home  it  lies, 
'Neath  careless,  unsuspecting  eyes, 
Which  never  read  the  tale  that  runs 
A  course  of  ancient,  mystic  suns, 
To  us  'tis  simply  many-hued, 
Of  figures  barbarous  and  rude; 
Appeals  in  vain  its  pictured  lore; 
An  Indian  blanket  —  nothing  more. 


92  THE  NAVAJOS 

While  the  Navajo  women  are  the  weavers  of  the 
tribe,  her  liege  lord  displays  his  skill  and  art  as  a 
craftsman  in  fashioning  from  silver 
The  Pesh-li-kai,  coins  the  many  ornaments  used  for 
or  Silversmith  personal  adornment  of  both  sexes. 
«  He  is  an  improvident  Navajo,  in- 
deed, who  does  not  possess  one  or  more  articles  of 
the  pesh-li-kai's  manufacture. 

Silver  rings,  bracelets,  ear-rings,  necklaces,  stick 
pins,  belts,  buttons,  buckles  and  various  other  orna- 
ments for  his  person  and  paraphernalia  all  curiously 
hand  chased  and  tooled,  and  often  set  with  native 
stone  settings  of  turquoise  and  garnets,  or  with  im- 
ported opals,  turquoise,  sapphires,  amethysts,  etc.,  are 
the  chief  products  of  his  handicraft.  He  also  makes 
silver  bridle  heads  for  ornamenting  his  pony,  which 
are  often  worth  two  or  three  times  as  much  as  the 
horse  upon  which  they  are  to  be  worn.  Souvenir 
silver  spoons  of  various  designs  are  made  by  him 
which  he  sells  to  the  Indian  traders. 

His  tools  are  often  of  the  rudest  sort  and  con- 
sidering the  advantages  he  has  for  studying  designs 
from  observation,  much  less  of  seeing  skilled  silver- 
smiths at  work  in  their  modern,  well  equipped  shops, 
the  skill  and  originality  displayed  in  the  manufacture 
of  his  jewelry  is  really  very  remarkable.  But  we 
must  remember  the  Navajo  has  initiative.  He  will 
undertake  to  do  almost  anything  he  has  ever  seen  a 
white  man  do.  He  probably  learned  the  art  of  work- 
ing in  metals  from  the  early  Spanish  explorers,  but 


Navajo  Jewelry 
(Courtesy  of  J.  B.  Moore) 


Navajo  Silverware 
(Courtesy  of  J.  B.  Moore) 


Navajo  Silverware 
( Courtesy  of  J.  B.Moore) 


THE  NAVAJOS  93 

it  is  safe  to  assume  that  he  has  had  very  little  instruc- 
tion along  these  lines,  for  he  has  not  yet  learned  the 
use  of  the  baser  metals.  He  uses  only  silver  coins  in 
the  manufacture  of  his  jewelry  and  silver-ware. 
Nothing  but  the  genuine  satisfies  the  Navajo. 


CHAPTER  X 
Civilization 

From  the  view  point  of  the  casual  observer  the 
Navajo  Indian  is  simply  an  ignorant,  superstitious 

but  industrious  barbarian.    He  will 

As  viewed  by      have  none  of  the  white  man's  re- 

the  White  Man    ligion,  his  own  being  good  enough 

for  him.  He  does  not  object  to 
missionaries,  but  he  wants  them  to  come  to  him  with  a 
tool  chest  and  a  practical  knowledge  of  agriculture  by 
irrigation,  and  of  stock  raising.  He  protests  that  he 
knows  nothing  about  "that  man  up  in  the  skies"  and 
of  that  world  where  there  will  be  no  more  work.  On 
one  occasion  a  committee  of  Navajos  called  upon  their 
agent  and  entered  a  protest  against  their  missionary. 
They  said  they  were  tired  of  hearing  about  a  world 
up  in  the  skies  where  there  would  be  lots  to  eat  and 
nothing  to  do;  they  said  they  could  not  understand 
about  the  white  man's  heaven,  nor  about  that  Jesus 
man  whose  home  was  away  up  in  the  skies  somewhere, 
but  that  they  could  understand  about  the  things  in 
this  life  and  in  this  world  and  that  they  wanted  a 
new  missionary  —  one  who  could  teach  them  a  better 
way  of  living  their  life  here  on  earth,  a  better  way 
of  farming  their  lands,  how  to  improve  the  breeds 
of  their  flocks  and  herds,  how  to  repair  their  plows 
and  harness,  and  how  to  mend  a  broken  wagon.  These, 
they  said,  were  the  qualifications  of  the  missionary 


THE  NAVAJOS  95 

that  would  be  able  to  help  the  Navajos,  but  as  to  the 
Bible,  they  knew  nothing  about  that  and  could  not 
understand  its  teachings;  it  was  made  for  the  white 
people  and  not  for  the  Navajos. 

To  the  orthodox  missionary,  his  is  a  hopeless  case, 
or  well  nigh  hopeless  —  a  heathen  and  a  pagan  be- 
yond redemption.  Not  very  many  years  ago  and  he 
would  have  suffered  death  by  burning  at  the  stake 
for  such  heresy  and  even  though  a  savage  he  would 
have  either  been  converted  or  killed.  And  indeed  it 
is  extremely  doubtful  if  the  Navajo  ever  attains  to 
anything  approaching  our  civilization  until  he  does 
accept  those  fundamental  truths  of  Christianity  as 
taught  on  the  shores  of  Galilee  by  the  lowly  Nazarene. 
He  needs  a  little  more  charity,  a  little  more  brotherly 
love  and  a  little  less  adherence  to  the  old  Scriptural 
injunction  —  an  eye  for  an  eye  and  a  tooth  for  a 
tooth.  He  is  a  diamond  in  the  rough. 

The  Navajo  is  now  sending  his  children  to  school, 
the  Government  maintaining  several  industrial  train- 
ing schools  on  his  reservation  for  their 
His  Progress  education.  He  is  turning  his  mechan- 
ical aptitude  to  account  by  finding 
employment  in  machine  shops  and  at  the  stone 
mason's  trade  in  neighboring  towns.  Others  se- 
cure work  on  the  railroads  as  section  hands  and 
in  the  sugar  beet  fields  as  day  laborers.  The  blanket 
weavers  and  the  silversmiths  are  constantly  employed 
and  the  product  of  their  handicraft  finds  ready  sale 


96  THE  NAVAJOS 

at  goodly  prices,  their  blankets  being  in  great  demand 
throughout  the  United  States  and  even  in  foreign 
countries.  From  their  sheep,  goats,  cattle  and  sale 
of  their  blankets  the  Navajos  have  a  yearly  income 
of  from  six  hundred  to  ten  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
The  Government  is  making  an  effort  to  develop  water 
for  them  for  irrigation  purposes  and  for  their  stock,  is 
improving  their  sheep  by  cross-breeding  and  is  provid- 
ing work  for  them  whereby  they  can  add  to  their  in- 
come while  at  the  same  time  they  develop  and  maintain 
their  splendid  independence  and  initiative  of  which 
they  are  justly  so  proud. 

It  is  safe  to  assume  that  the  Navajo  Indian  will 
always  remain  an  INDIAN.  He  shows  no  disposition  to 
amalgamate  with  any  other  race.  Dur- 
His  Future  ing  the  past  few  years  the  policy  of  the 
government  has  been  to  study  the  char- 
acteristics of  the  Indian  and  to  adopt  such  measures 
as  will  most  likely  tend  toward  the  development  of 
all  his  natural  instincts  along  lines  calculated  to  make 
him  a  better  Indian. 

In  a  recent  annual  report  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Department  of  the  Interior,  Mr.  Francis  E.  Leupp, 
Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  said: 

The  Indian  is  a  natural  warrior,  a  natural  logi- 
cian, a  natural  artist.  We  have  room  for  all  three  in 
our  highly  organized  social  system.  Let  us  not  make 
the  mistake,  in  the  process  of  absorbing  them,  of  wash- 
ing out  of  them  whatever  is  distinctly  INDIAN.  Our 
aboriginal  brother  brings,  as  his  contribution  to  the 


THE  NAVAJOS  97 

common  store  of  character,  a  great  deal  which  is  ad- 
mirable, and  which  only  needs  to  be  developed  along 
the  right  line.  Our  proper  work  with  him  is  IMPROVE- 
MENT, NOT  TRANSFORMATION. 

In  view  of  this  policy  of  the  Government  the  light 
is  dawning  in  the  east  for  the  Navajo,  and  he  has  a 
bright  future.  Being  no  longer  guarded  on  the  res- 
ervation, the  great  field  of  competitive  labor  is  open 
before  him.  If,  like  Mahomet,  the  mountain  does 
not  come  to  him  he  goes  to  the  mountain.  If  his 
crops  fail  him  in  seasons  of  drouth  he  goes  forth  with 
light  heart  and  strong  arm  knowing  that  his  labor  is 
in  demand  as  artisan  and  freighter  or  in  the  beet 
fields,  or  with  the  railroad  construction  crews,  and 
that  the  honest  laborer  is  ever  worthy  of  his  hire. 


Appendix 


The  happiest  man  is  he  who  leams  from  nature 
the  lesson  of  worship. 

Of  that  ineffable  essence  which  we  call  Spirit, 
he  that  thinks  most,  will  say  least.  We  can  fore- 
see God  in  the  coarse  and,  as  it  were,  distant  phe- 
nomena of  matter;  but  when  we  try  to  define  and 
describe  himself,  both  language  and  thought  desert 
us,  and  we  are  as  helpless  as  fools  and  savages. 
The  essence  refuses  to  be  recorded  in  propositions, 
but  when  man  has  worshiped  him  intellectually, 
the  noblest  ministry  of  nature  is  to  stand  as  the  ap- 
parition of  God.  It  is  the  great  organ  through 
which  the  universal  spirit  speaks  to  the  individual, 
and  strives  to  lead  the  individual  to  it. 

—EMERSON,  Essay  on  Nature. 


APPENDIX 

Consisting  of  official  letters  and  affidavits  of  gov- 
ernment officials,  both  civil  and  military,  relating  to 
the  Navajo  Indians  and  their  country,  and  to  the 
causes  which  led  to  the  Navajo  war  of  1861. 

Also  containing  statements,  from  reliable  sources, 
regarding  the  practice  of  the  Mexicans  capturing  and 
holding  Navajo  Indians  as  slaves  and  servants. 

AFFIDAVIT  RELATING  TO  THE  NAVAJO  INDIANS  AND  THEIR 
COUNTRY 

Santa  Fe,  New  Mexico,  July  3,  1865. 
Brigadier  General  James  H.  Carleton  sworn: 

I  am  brigadier  general  of  volunteers  and  major 
in  the  6th  regiment  United  States  cavalry.  I  have 
been  in  the  service  twenty-five  years.  I  first  came 
to  this  Territory  with  General  Sumner  in  1851,  and 
left  in  the  fall  of  1856.  I  returned  again  in  the  fall 
of  1862,  and  have  been  here  ever  since.  I  have  been 
in  command  of  this  department  since  the  18th  of 
September,  1862.  My  principal  duties  have  been  in 
connection  with  Indian  affairs. 

The  Navajo  country  is  a  country  of  elevated 
mesas,  destitute  of  water,  and  has  some  few  ranges 
of  mountains.  Between  these  mesas  are  some  low 
lands,  whereon  some  springs  and  streams  are  found. 
These  springs  or  streams  are  at  great  distance  from 
each  other,  as  compared  with  the  frequency  of  water 
found  elsewhere.  These  waters  are  of  limited  extent 
and  volume;  and  the  best  of  them  sink  in  the  earth 


102  APPENDIX 

at  a  short  distance  from  their  source.  There  are  two 
exceptions  to  this  general  remark.  One  is  the  San 
Juan,  a  tributary  of  the  Colorado  of  the  West.  Along 
this  river  are  intervals  of  some  extent,  but  separated 
from  each  other  by  ranges  of  mountains  and  mesas 
that  abut  upon  the  river.  No  one  of  these  intervals  is 
large  enough  for  a  reservation  for  one  quarter  of 
these  Navajos.  Formidable  ranges  of  mountains  are 
near  by,  in  which  they  could  hide,  and  no  force  of 
troops  could  keep  them  together.  This  is  on  the  sup- 
position that  a  reservation  were  selected  on  the  San 
Juan  river.  Now,  the  cost  of  transportation  of  sup- 
plies from  the  Rio  Grande  to  that  point  to  subsist  the 
Indians  and  to  provide  for  the  troops  necessary  to 
guard  them  in  that  locality  would  be  immense,  because 
the  country  to  be  traversed  is  difficult  for  the  passage 
of  wagons,  and  has  long  stretches  through  sage  plains, 
without  water  in  one  or  two  instances  of  from  forty 
to  sixty  miles. 

The  San  Juan  runs  through  a  country  bearing 
gold,  which  will  soon  attract  miners  to  that  region; 
and  even  if  the  Indians  were  placed  there  they  would 
soon  come  into  contact  with  that  class  of  men,  and 
great  difficulties  and  complications  would  result  there- 
from. 

The  other  exception  to  which  I  alluded  is  that 
of  the  Colorado  Chiquito  or  Flax  river.  This  is 
affluent  to  the  Colorado  of  the  West  further  down  than 
the  San  Juan.  It  is  subject  to  very  great  floods  from 
the  melting  of  snows  on  the  Mogollon  mountains  at 
its  source.  When  these  floods  have  passed  by,  the 
river  is  very  low,  and  its  valleys  become  gradually 
covered  with  saline  efflorescence,  fatal  to  the  growth 
of  corn  or  wheat  and  the  most  of  vegetables.  Al- 
though this  river  runs  through  the  old  Navajo  coun- 
try, and  these  people  have  lived  in  its  vicinity  for 
ages,  they  themselves  have  never  planted  a  field  of 


APPENDIX  103 

corn  along  its  banks,  which  may  be  considered  as 
some  evidence  that  it  would  not  be  a  good  place  for  a 
reservation.  The  distance  to  the  Colorado  Chiquito 
is  nearly  as  great  as  to  the  San  Juan,  and  the  cost 
of  transportation  as  much. 

I  think  the  Navajo  Indians  are  naturally  as  in- 
telligent as  any  Indians  I  know  of,  including  the 
Pueblos.  The  Pueblo  Indians  are  better  informed 
than  the  other  Indians,  from  their  long  contact  with 
the  influences  of  civilization  and  Christianity.  The 
Pueblos  are  Catholics.  The  Navajos  are  all  pagans 
with  the  exception  of  the  Civollettanos.  In  Casten- 
ada's  narrative  of  the  first  expedition  made  into  New 
Mexico  under  Vasques  de  Coronada,  in  say  1543,  1544 
and  1545,  it  is  set  forth  that  Indians  were  found  in 
pueblos  as  at  the  present  day.  Among  these  pueblos 
doubtless  Catholic  missionaries  established  churches 
and  schools,  and  the  Indians  of  those  pueblos  became 
Christianized  and  partially  civilized.  This  has  raised 
them  very  much  above  the  nomadic  Indians  of  the 
country  in  point  of  intelligence  and  gentleness.  With 
the  exception  of  one  or  two  intervals  of  a  few  years 
each,  there  has  been  a  constant  state  of  hostility  be- 
tween the  people  of  New  Mexico  and  the  Navajo 
Indians.  Even  in  these  intervals  occasional  forays 
were  made  into  the  settlements  to  capture  sheep  and 
cattle.  The  Mexicans  would  follow  them  into  their 
country  to  recapture  the  stolen  stock,  and  would  kill 
some  of  the  Indians  and  capture  some  of  the  women 
and  children  and  make  slaves  of  them.  But  in  times 
when  open  hostilities  existed  these  efforts  were  in- 
creased on  each  side  to  capture  stock,  women  and 
children,  so  that  the  country  was  kept  in  a  continual 
state  of  commotion.  This  was  the  state  of  things 
when  we  acquired  the  territory  from  Mexico. 

To  the  best  of  my  recollection  Colonel  Doniphan, 
who  came  here  with  General  Kearney,  made  the  first 


104  APPENDIX 

expedition  into  the  Navajo  country  in  1846.  Colonel 
Washington  made  an  expedition  into  their  country 
in  the  year  1849;  General  Sumner  in  1851.  From 
1851  until  1859  there  was  a  period  of  comparative 
quiet,  interrupted,  as  I  have  stated,  by  occasional 
forays,  particularly  on  the  part  of  the  Navajos.  In 
1859  war  again  broke  out,  and  in  1860  the  Navajos 
attacked  Fort  Defiance.  About  this  time  Colonel 
Miles  made  an  expedition  into  their  country,  and  also 
Colonel  Bonneville;  and  finally  General  Canby  made 
a  long  campaign  against  them,  leading  his  troops  in 
person.  When  the  Texan  invasion  of  this  country 
occurred,  after  General  Canby 's  campaign  against  the 
Navajos,  and  when  every  soldier  was  employed  to  repel 
that  invasion,  then  the  Navajos,  as  well  as  the  Apaches, 
rode  over  the  country  rough-shod.  This  was  in  the 
winter  of  1861  and  in  the  spring  and  summer  of  1862. 
I  relieved  General  Canby  in  command  of  the  depart- 
ment; and  this  was  the  condition  of  the  Navajos  and 
Apaches  at  that  time. 

The  Indian  difficulties  in  New  Mexico,  since  the 
treaty  with  Mexico,  have  obliged  the  United  States  to 
keep  in  that  Territory  a  force  whose  average  strength 
has  been  at  least  three  thousand  men,  employes  and 
all  reckoned  in.  This  covers  a  period  of  eighteen 
years.  A  large  proportion  of  these  troops  have  been 
cavalry,  the  most  expensive  arm  in  the  military  service, 
especially  in  New  Mexico,  where  forage  is  very  ex- 
pensive. The  horses  required  as  remounts  for  this 
cavalry  have  to  be  brought  across  the  plains  from  the 
States  at  great  risk  and  expense.  Sometimes  large 
numbers  have  been  stampeded  en  route  and  have  never 
been  heard  from  since.  Many  die  before  they  reach 
this  country.  Those  which  arrive  here  it  takes  at 
least  a  year  to  acclimate;  and  after  this  the  loss  of 
horses  by  death,  by  being  broken  down,  and  lost  on 
scouts,  and  killed  in  action,  and  stolen  by  Indians,  is 


APPENDIX  105 

enormous,  compared  with  losses  of  cavalry  horses  in 
any  other  country.  The  same  holds  true  of  mules, 
more  numerous  necessarily  than  cavalry  horses,  by 
reason  of  the  extent  of  country  over  which  supplies 
have  to  be  hauled  to  subsist  and  clothe  the  troops. 

In  this  connection  I  feel  constrained  to  say  that 
much  of  the  hostility  manifested  by  many  of  the  peo- 
ple of  New  Mexico  against  the  reservation  system, 
grows  out  of  the  fact  that  when  this  system  goes  into 
successful  operation  there  will  be  no  more  tribes  from 
which  they  can  capture  servants,  and  the  military 
force  being  reduced  to  a  very  small  number,  the  mil- 
lions of  dollars  annually  expended  here  on  account 
of  the  military  establishment  will,  in  a  great  measure, 
cease. 

The  number  of  Indians,  men,  women  and  children, 
who  have  been  captured  or  bought  from  the  Utes,  and 
who  live  in  the  families  of  the  Territory,  may  be  safely 
set  down  as  at  least  three  thousand.  So  far  as  my 
observation  has  gone,  the  Mexicans  treat  these  Indians 
with  great  kindness.  After  a  while  they  become  con- 
versant with  the  language,  become  attached  to  the 
families  they  live  in,  and  very  seldom  care  to  run 
away.  If  they  should  attempt  to  run  away  I  believe 
they  would  be  captured  by  the  owners.  They  are 
held  as  servants ;  as  "  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of 
water."  In  my  judgment  three  out  of  four  of  these 
servants  are  Navajos.  These  servants  do  not  inter- 
marry much  with  the  Mexicans,  but  the  women  bear 
children  from  illicit  intercourse.  The  offspring  of  this 
intercourse  are  considered  as  peons.  The  Indians 
upon  the  reservation,  if  properly  cared  for  by  the 
military  commander,  run  no  risk  of  being  stolen  or 
attacked. 


106  APPENDIX 

CAUSES  OF  THE  NAVAJO  WARS 

Slavery 

Santa  Fe,  New  Mexico,  July  4,  1865. 
Chief  Justice  Kirby  Benedict  sworn: 

In  August  next  I  will  have  resided  twelve  years 
in  New  Mexico.  I  came  here  with  the  commission  of 
judge,  and  have  been  a  member  of  the  supreme  court 
and  a  judge  of  a  district  up  to  the  present  time ;  since 
in  the  summer  of  1858  I  have  been  chief  justice. 
During  the  earlier  part  of  this  time  the  Navajo  Indians 
kept  peaceable  relations  with  the  United  States  gov- 
ernment in  this  Territory  and  with  the  inhabitants. 
This  condition  of  things  was  manifested  a  few  days 
after  my  arrival,  when  a  large  deputation  of  the  chiefs 
and  principal  men  of  the  tribe  came  to  Santa  Fe  and 
made  a  friendly  visit  to  the  governor,  who  was  then 
also  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs  in  the  Territory. 
A  general  friendship  prevailed  until  an  irritation  oc- 
curred at  Fort  Defiance,  from  a  negro  having  been 
killed  at  that  place  in  a  quarrel  with  an  Indian  who 
had  come  to  the  post.  The  negro  is  said  to  have  been 
claimed  as  the  slave  of  the  commanding  officer ;  satis- 
faction was  required  of  the  Navajos  for  the  killing  of 
the  negro.  I  understand  they  offered  to  pay  a  sum, 
but  the  military  exacted  the  delivering  up  of  the  In- 
dian who  had  done  the  killing.  Excuses  were  alleged, 
among  others,  that  the  Indian  had  fled  beyond  the 
tribe  and  their  reach.  The  military  remained  unsat- 
isfied, hostile  feelings  grew  stronger  and  stronger  on 
the  part  of  the  Navajos,  and  the  former  standing  by 
their  actions,  the  Navajos  did  acts  of  hostility  directed 
firstly  against  the  military,  but  which  finally  extended 
to  and  included  the  inhabitants  of  the  Territory. 
Stealing,  robberies  and  barbarities  ensued,  and  the  In- 
dians, as  a  tribe,  became  involved,  until  the  depreda- 
tions upon  life,  security  and  property  were  so  fre- 


APPENDIX  107 

quent  and  ruinous,  a  campaign  was  made  against  them 
under  the  command  of  Colonel  Kit  Carson,  which 
was  successful  in  bringing  them  to  subjection,  and 
causing  a  surrender  as  captives  the  principal  portion 
of  the  tribe,  men,  women  and  children. 

The  Navajos  were  in  the  habit  of  making  forays 
upon  the  ranches  and  settlements,  stealing,  robbing  and 
killing  and  carrying  away  captives;  the  finding  of 
herds  and  driving  off  sheep  and  other  animals  was 
carried  on  to  a  very  ruinous  extent;  the  killing  of 
persons  did  not  seem  so  much  the  object  of  their  war- 
fare as  an  incidental  means  of  succeeding  in  other 
depredations.  Sometimes,  however,  barbarous  ven- 
geance was  exhibited  and  a  thirst  for  blood.  They 
carried  away  captives,  but  I  can  not  now  give  any 
accurate  idea  of  the  number. 

There  are  in  the  Territory  a  large  number  of 
Indians,  principally  females  (women  and  children), 
who  have  been  taken  by  force  or  stealth,  or  purchases,- 
who  have  been  among  the  various  wild  tribes  of  New 
Mexico  or  those  adjoining.  Of  these  a  large  propor- 
tion are  Navajos.  It  is  notorious  that  natives  of  this 
country  have  sometimes  made  captives  of  Navajo 
women  and  children  when  opportunities  presented 
themselves ;  the  custom  has  long  existed  here  of  buy- 
ing Indian  persons,  especially  women  and  children; 
the  tribes  themselves  have  carried  on  this  kind  of 
traffic.  Destitute  orphans  are  sometimes  sold  by  their 
remote  relations;  poor  parents  also  make  traffic  of 
their  children.  The  Indian  persons  obtained  in  any 
of  the  modes  mentioned  are  treated  by  those  who  claim 
to  own  them  as  their  servants  and  slaves.  They  are 
bought  and  sold  by  and  between  the  inhabitants  at  a 
price  as  much  as  is  a  horse  or  an  ox.  Those  who  buy, 
detain  and  use  them  seem  to  confide  in  the  long-es- 
tablished custom  and  practice  which  prevails,  and  did 
prevail  before  this  country  was  a  portion  of  the  United 


108  APPENDIX 

States.  Those  who  hold  them  are  exceedingly  sensi- 
tive of  their  supposed  interest  in  them,  and  easily 
alarmed  at  any  movements  in  the  civil  courts  or  other- 
wise to  disposses  them  of  their  imagined  property. 
The  rich  and  those  who  have  some  quantities  of  prop- 
erty, are  those  chiefly  who  possess  the  persons  I  have 
mentioned ;  those  usually  have  much  popular  influence 
in  the  country,  and  the  exertion  of  this  influence  is 
one  of  the  means  by  which  they  hope  to  retain  their 
grasp  upon  their  Indian  slaves.  The  prices  have  late- 
ly ranged  very  high.  A  likely  girl  not  more  than  eight 
years  old,  healthy  and  intelligent,  would  be  held  at 
a  value  of  four  hundred  dollars  or  more.  When 
they  grow  to  womanhood  they  sometimes  become  moth- 
ers from  the  natives  of  the  land,  with  or  without  mar- 
riage. Their  children,  however,  by  the  custom  of 
the  country,  are  not  regarded  as  property  which  may 
be  bought  and  sold  as  have  been  their  mothers.  They 
grow  up  and  are  treated  as  having  the  rights  of 
citizens.  They  marry  and  blend  with  the  general 
population. 

From  my  own  observations  I  am  not  able  to  form 
an  opinion  satisfactory  to  my  own  mind  of  the  number 
of  Indians  held  as  slaves  or  fixed  domestic  servants 
without  their  being  the  recipients  of  wages.  Persons 
of  high  respectability  for  intelligence,  who  have  made 
some  calculations  on  the  subject,  estimate  the  number 
at  various  figures,  from  fifteen  hundred  to  three  thou- 
sand, and  even  exceeding  the  last  number.  The  more 
prevalent  opinion  seems  to  be  they  considerably  ex- 
ceed two  thousand. 

As  to  federal  officers  holding  this  description  of 
persons  or  trafficking  in  them,  I  can  only  say  I  see 
them  attending  the  family  of  Governor  Connelly,  but 
whether  claimed  by  himself,  his  wife,  or  both,  I  know 
not.  I  am  informed  the  superintendent  of  Indian 
affairs  has  one  in  his  family,  but  I  can  not  state  by 


APPENDIX  109 

what  claim  she  is  retained.  From  the  social  position 
occupied  by  the  Indian  agents,  I  presume  all  of  them, 
except  one,  have  the  presence  and  assistance  of  the 
kind  of  persons  mentioned;  I  cannot,  however,  state 
positively.  In  the  spring  of  1862,  when  Associate 
Justice.  Hubbell  and  myself  conveyed  our  families  to 
the  States,  he  informed  me  at  Las  Vegas  that  he  sold 
one  Indian  woman  to  a  resident  of  that  place  pre- 
paratory to  crossing  the  plains.  I  know  of  no  law 
in  this  Territory  by  which  property  in  a  Navajo  or 
other  Indian  can  be  recognized  in  any  person  whatever, 
any  more  than  property  can  be  recognized  in  the  freest 
white  man  or  black  man.  In  1855,  while  holding  dis- 
trict court  in  the  county  of  Valencia,  a  proceeding  in 
habeas  corpus  was  had  before  me  on  the  part  of  a 
wealthy  woman  as  petitioner,  who  claimed  the  posses- 
sion and  services  of  a  Navajo  girl  then  twelve  years 
old,  and  who  had  been  held  by  the  petitioner  near 
seven  years.  On  the  trial  I  held  the  girl  to  be  a  free 
person,  and  adjudged  accordingly.  In  1862  a  pro- 
ceeding in  habeas  corpus  was  instituted  before  me  by 
an  aged  man  who  had  held  in  service  many  years  an 
Indian  woman  who  had  been,  when  a  small  child, 
bought  from  the  Payweha  Indians.  The  right  of  the 
master  to  the  possession  and  services  of  the  woman 
on  the  one  side,  and  the  right  of  the  woman  to  her 
personal  freedom,  were  put  distinctly  at  issue.  Upon 
the  hearing  I  adjudged  the  woman  to  be  a  free  woman ; 
I  held  the  claim  of  the  master  to  be  without  founda- 
tion in  law  and  against  natural  rights.  In  each  of  the 
cases  the  party  adjudged  against  acquiesced  in  the 
decision,  and  no  appeal  was  ever  taken.  In  the  ex- 
amination of  the  cases  it  appeared  that  before  the 
United  States  obtained  New  Mexico,  captive  and  pur- 
chased Indians  were  held  here  by  custom  in  the  same 
manner  they  have  been  held  since.  The  courts  are 
open  to  them,  but  they  are  so  influenced  by  the  cir- 


110  APPENDIX 

cumstances  which  surround  them  they  do  not  seem  to 
think  of  seeking  the  aid  of  the  law  to  establish  the 
enjoyment  of  their  rights  to  freedom. 

THE  TROUBLE  BETWEEN  THE  NAVAJOS  AND  THE  SOLDIERS 

Colonel  Collins  sworn : 

I  came  to  the  Territory  in  the  fall  of  1827;  I 
came  as  a  merchant  and  trader.  I  traded  back  and 
forth  from  1827  to  1843,  making  a  trip  once  in  three 
years.  In  1843  I  came  and  went  into  Old  Mexico,  and 
since  then  I  have  resided  most  of  the  time  in  Old  and 
New  Mexico;  and  since  the  war  with  Mexico  I  have 
resided  in  New  Mexico  all  the  time.  I  was  superin- 
tendent of  Indian  affairs  from  1847  until  1863,  when 
I  turned  over  the  office  to  Dr.  Steck. 

About  the  commencement  of  June,  a  difficulty  oc- 
curred between  the  Indians  and  the  troops  at  Fort 
Defiance.  That  difficulty  was  occasioned  by  the  In- 
dians allowing  their  animals  to  run  on  lands  which 
had  been  set  apart  by  an  arrangement  with  them  as 
meadow  lands  for  cutting  hay  for  the  post.  Major 
Brooks  was  then  in  command  of  the  post.  The  In- 
dians were  notified  to  keep  their  animals  off.  Finally, 
after  they  had  been  on  the  ground  several  times,  a 
company  of  mounted  men,  under  Captain  McLane,  of 
the  rifles,  was  sent  out,  who  ordered  about  seventy  of 
the  animals  shot  within  the  limits  of  the  meadow.  The 
result  was,  a  very  short  time  after  this,  a  black  boy, 
servant  of  Major  Brooks,  was  killed  by  the  Indians. 
The  killing  of  the  boy  led  to  the  war,  which  has  con- 
tinued up  to  this  time. 

After  the  killing  of  the  boy  a  demand  was  made 
by  Major  Brooks  on  the  principal  men  of  the  tribe 
for  the  delivery  of  the  murderer,  and  were  finally  told 
that,  unless  he  was  given  up,  in  thirty  days  war  would 
be  made  on  the  tribe. 


APPENDIX  111 

At  this  state  of  the  case  the  facts  were  reported 
to  General  Garland,  who  was  then  in  command  of  the 
department.  General  Garland,  though  not  approving 
of  the  course  which  had  been  pursued,  still  thought 
proper  not  to  recede  from  the  demands  which  had  been 
made,  but  thought  proper  to  exact  it.  The  result  was 
an  expedition  against  the  Indians  under  Colonel  Miles. 
My  opinion  was  consulted,  and  I  advised  more  specific 
means,  and  not  to  commence  hostilities  until  every 
effort  had  been  made  to  secure  the  murderer.  An 
agent  was  sent  out,  in  co-operation  with  the  troops, 
to  try  and  get  the  murderer  and  preserve  the  peace. 
He  failed,  the  Indians  refusing  to  deliver  the  murder- 
er. The  agent  went  with  Captain  McLane,  with  in- 
structions to  prevent  hostilities  until  a  council  could 
be  held  with  the  chiefs,  but  on  the  way  Captain  Mc- 
Lane met  some  Indians  and  attacked  them,  getting 
wounded  himself.  Notwithstanding  this  attack,  the 
Indians  were  collected  and  a  council  held,  but  it  re- 
sulted in  nothing,  the  Indians  stating  that  they  had  no 
authority  to  deliver  up  the  murderer,  but  offered  to 
pay  any  price  for  the  negro  killed.  The  offer  was 
refused,  the  troops  insisting  upon  the  delivery  of  the 
murderer.  The  consequence  was  open  hostilities. 
The  troops  moved  against  the  Indians  in  every  direc- 
tion, but  they  were  not  sufficiently  damaged  to  bring 
them  to  terms. 

After  hostilities  commenced,  I  insisted,  with  Gen- 
eral Garland,  that,  as  the  war  had  been  commenced, 
it  should  be  prosecuted  until  the  Indians  sued  for 
terms.  General  Garland  concurred  in  this  opinion, 
but  was  relieved  about  this  time  by  Colonel  Bonne- 
ville.  Colonel  Bonneville  and  myself  concluded  to  go 
out  and  see  the  Indians  at  the  expiration  of  the 
armistice,  which  would  be  about  the  25th  of  December, 
at  which  time  we  concluded  a  treaty  of  peace  with  the 
Indians.  My  opinion  was,  that  the  war  was  improp- 


112  APPENDIX 

erly  commenced,  and  was  improperly  concluded  by 
not  making  the  Indians  comply  with  demand  made 
upon  them. 

The  substance  of  the  treaty  was,  that  all  stock 
taken  during  hostilities  should,  as  far  as  practicable, 
be  given  up;  and  Colonel  Bonneville  agreed  to  en- 
force the  condition  on  his  part.  The  treaty  was  never 
carried  into  effect,  and  in  the  summer  of  1859  another 
expedition  was  sent  against  the  Indians,  under  Major 
Simonson.  He  went  out  with  instructions  to  enforce 
that  condition  of  the  treaty  to  surrender  the  captured 
stock.  He  failed  to  do  so.  That  expedition  was  as 
great  a  failure  as  the  other.  Hostilities  continued.  The 
Indians  continued  their  depredations,  committing  rob- 
beries and  murders  to  a  considerable  extent,  until 
1860,  when  General  Canby  took  command  and  made 
an  expedition  against  them.  During  this  time  the 
Mexicans  turned  loose  upon  them,  captured  a  good 
many  of  their  women  and  children. 

General  Canby  made  an  expedition  in  1860.  He 
was  not  very  successful.  He  went  into  their  country ; 
they  asked  for  peace,  and  he  made  a  treaty  with  them 
and  withdrew  the  troops.  They,  however,  continued 
their  hostile  depredations  just  about  as  before. 

About  that  time  the  Rebellion  broke  out  and  the 
Texans  made  their  invasion.  All  the  troops  were  with- 
drawn from  the  Navajo  country.  The  Navajos  con- 
tinued their  depredations  as  usual,  until  General 
Carleton  came  into  the  country,  when  he  organized 
his  expedition,  under  Kit  Carson,  against  them. 

During  the  hostilities  a  band  of  friendly  Indians 
of  about  three  hundred,  increased  by  the  addition  of 
those  disposed  to  be  friendly  to  about  six  hundred, 
were  greatly  wronged,  in  my  opinion,  at  Fort  Win- 
gate.  There  was  some  difficulty  about  a  horse  race. 
The  Indians,  I  think,  won  the  race,  and  the  Mexican 
troops  in  the  service  refused  to  give  up  stakes,  when  a 


Navajo  Shepherds 
(From  the  Southern   Workman) 


APPENDIX  113 

quarrel  arose,  and  the  troops  fired  into  them;  some 
were  killed  and  some  were  wounded. 

I  cannot  say  that  I  could,  but  I  was  encouraged 
to  think,  but  for  the  difficulty  about  the  meadow  lands 
and  the  killing  of  the  negro  boy  of  Major  Brooks,  I 
would  have  been  able  to  maintain  the  peace  with  the 
Indians. 

A    NAVAJO    SUPERSTITION    LEADS    TO   THE    KILLING   OP 
NEGRO   SLAVE 

Dr.  Louis  Kennon  sworn : 

Am  a  resident  of  New  Mexico;  have  been  for 
twelve  years  last  past;  am  a  native  of  Georgia;  am  a 
physician  by  profession. 

I  think  the  Navajos  have  been  the  most  abused 
people  on  the  continent,  and  that  in  all  hostilities  the 
Mexicans  have  always  taken  the  initiative  with  but  one 
exception  that  I  know  of.  When  I  first  came  here  the 
Navajos  were  at  peace,  and  had  been  for  a  long  time. 
There  was  a  pressure  brought  to  bear  upon  the  com- 
mander of  the  department  by  the  Mexicans,  and  all 
Americans  who  pandered  to  that  influence,  to  make 
war  upon  the  Navajos.  General  Garland  was  com- 
mander of  the  Department  at  that  time,  and  if  you 
asked  the  Mexicans  any  reason  for  making  war,  they 
would  give  no  other  reason,  but  that  the  Navajos  had 
a  great  many  sheep  and  horses  and  a  great  many 
children.  General  Garland  resisted  their  pressure 
until  the  unfortunate  killing  of  a  negro  belonging  to 
an  officer  at  the  post.  The  circumstances  as  I  heard 
them  are  these: 

Among  the  Navajos  there  is  a  great  equality  be- 
tween the  men  and  women;  women  own  their  own 
property  independent  of  their  husbands,  and  having 
property,  are  entitled  to  vote  in  the  councils.  They 
are  also  at  liberty,  if  dissatisfied  with  their  husbands, 


114  APPENDIX 

to  leave  them  at  will;  but  when  they  do  so  the  hus- 
band asks  to  wipe  out  the  disgrace  by  killing  some 
one.  A  ease  of  this  kind  occurred. 

An  Indian  of  a  wealthy  and  influential  family, 
had  been  deserted  by  his  wife  in  this  way,  and  he 
having  had  some  real  or  imagined  ill-treatment  from 
this  negro  slave  belonging  to  Major  Brooks,  of  the 
3rd  Infantry,  killed  him.  A  demand  was  made  for 
the  surrender  of  the  murderer,  or  war  would  follow. 
He  was  secreted  by  his  family.  The  Indians  killed 
some  other  Indian  and  brought  in  his  body,  insisting 
that  it  was  the  body  of  the  murderer,  killed  while 
escaping  from  arrest.  But  the  soldiers  knew  the  mur- 
derer well,  and  they  knew  the  folly  of  this  pretense, 
so  the  demand  was  still  insisted  upon. 

Meantime  some  Navajos  near  Albuquerque  were 
murdered  and  robbed  by  Mexicans,  and  the  Navajos 
made  demand  for  the  surrender  of  the  murderers  by 
General  Garland.  This  was  refused,  and  the  surren- 
der still  insisted  upon  of  the  Indian  who  murdered 
the  negro.  The  Indians  offered  to  pay  for  the  negro, 
but  failed  to  surrender  the  murderer.  War  ensued, 
and  there  has  been  no  permanent  peace  since.  There 
have  been  intervals  of  quiet,  but  no  substantial  peace. 
Previous  to  the  killing  of  the  negro,  the  post  had  been 
in  command  of  two  very  able  and  philanthropic  gentle- 
men, Majors  Kendricks  and  Backus,  who  kept  the 
Navajos  at  peace  by  keeping  the  Mexicans  away  from 
them. 

I  was  in  the  service  of  the  United  States  as  acting 
assistant  surgeon,  and  was  stationed  at  Fort  Defiance 
in  1858,  and  was  on  a  campaign  against  the  Indians 
under  Colonel  Canby,  and  was  in  active  service  two 
months,  scouting  over  the  country,  and  therefore  I 
know  something  about  the  country.  In  the  old  Nava- 
jo  country  the  grazing  facilities  are  inexhaustible.  I 


APPENDIX  115 

saw  no  evidence  of  minerals;  it  is  a  red  sandstone 
country,  in  which  minerals  do  not  exist. 

I  think  the  number  of  captive  Navajo  Indians 
held  as  slaves  to  be  underestimated.  I  think  there  are 
from  five  to  six  thousand.  I  know  of  no  family  which 
can  raise  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  but  what  pur- 
chases a  Navajo  slave,  and  many  families  own  four 
or  five  —  the  trade  in  them  being  as  regular  as  the 
trade  in  pigs  or  sheep.  Previous  to  the  war  their 
price  was  from  seventy-five  to  one  hundred  dollars; 
but  now  they  are  worth  about  four  hundred  dollars. 
But  the  other  day  some  Mexican  Indians  from  Chi- 
huahua were  for  sale  in  Santa  Fe.  I  have  been  con- 
versant with  the  institution  of  slavery  in  Georgia,  but 
the  system  is  worse  here,  there  being  no  obligation  to 
care  for  the  slave  when  he  becomes  old  or  worthless. 

APPOINTMENT    OP    INDIAN   AGENTS 

Treatment  of  the  Navajos  by  Mexicans 

Major  Griner  sworn: 

I  first  came  to  this  Territory  in  1851,  staid  until 
1854,  and  then,  again,  in  1862,  where  I  have  remained 
since,  with  the  exception  of  the  time  of  the  Texan 
invasion.  I  came  here  first  as  Indian  agent,  and  was 
at  first  assigned  to  duty  at  Taos,  as  agent  for  the 
Apaches  and  Utes,  but  afterwards  acted  as  general 
superintendent  under  Governor  Calhoun,  and  trav- 
elled over  pretty  much  all  the  Territory.  I  was  In- 
dian agent  from  1851  until  1853,  being  then  appointed 
secretary. 

The  great  difficulty  in  our  Indian  policy  is  in  the 
selection  of  Indian  agents,  who  are  generally  appoint- 
ed for  political  services.  Mr.  Wingfield  came  here  as 
an  agent  because  he  was  the  friend  of  Mr.  Dawson 
of  Georgia;  Mr.  Wolly,  an  old  man  of  seventy  years 
of  age,  because  he  was  the  friend  of  Mr.  Clay;  Mr. 


116  APPENDIX 

Weightman,  because  he  wished  to  be  returned  as 
delegate;  and  myself,  because  I  could  sing  a  good 
political  song.  Neither  of  us  was  by  habit  or  educa- 
tion better  fitted  to  be  Indian  agent  than  to  follow 
any  other  business.  The  general  policy  of  selecting 
men  as  agents  for  political  services,  rather  than  fit- 
ness for  the  position,  and  frequently  changing  them, 
is  a  great  cause  of  all  our  Indian  difficulties,  in  my 
opinion.  I  was  changed  just  as  I  was  about  to  be  of 
service,  and  had  become  acquainted  with  the  Indians, 
and  had  acquired  their  confidence,  and  could  get  them 
to  do  as  I  desired. 

When  I  left  here  I  went  away  with  a  high 
opinion  of  the  system  adopted  by  the  Spaniards  —  I 
mean  the  pueblos,  which  are  reservations.  I  look 
upon  them  as  models,  and  their  government  as  models 
for  Indians.  Their  governments  are  entirely  demo- 
cratic; they  select  their  own  officers  and  administer 
their  own  laws.  At  first  they  had  no  farms,  and  de- 
pended on  their  own  industry  for  subsistence,  and 
none  have  ever  been  found  guilty  of  a  criminal  of- 
fense. The  only  difficulty  in  our  government  doing 
as  the  Spaniards  did  is  on  account  of  religion.  The 
Spaniards  planted  a  church  in  the  center  of  each 
pueblo,  the  priest  naming  the  babies  and  baptizing 
them;  and  the  priest  was  in  fact  the  agent  of  the 
Spanish  government,  and  had  charge  of  the  temporal 
as  well  as  the  spiritual  affairs.  This  of  course  would 
be  impracticable  under  our  government. 

In  my  experience  I  have  never  known  a  serious 
difficulty  in  the  Territory  between  the  Indians  and 
citizens  which  did  not  originate  mainly  with  the  latter. 
One  of  the  first  exciting  difficulties  in  the  Territory 
arose  from  the  capture  of  Mrs.  White,  a  very  beau- 
tiful woman,  and  her  little  daughter,  by  the  Jicarilla 
Apaches.  I  was  appointed  to  investigate  it.  I  found 
that  at  Las  Vegas  the  troops  had,  without  any  suffi- 


APPENDIX  117 

cient  cause  or  provocation,  fired  upon  the  Indians, 
and  they  in  revenge  joined  with  some  Utes  and  at- 
tacked the  next  train  coming  from  the  States,  killing 
Mr.  White  and  others,  and  capturing  his  wife  and 
child;  and  also  the  stage,  with  ten  passengers,  was 
taken  and  all  killed.  A  war  was  the  consequence. 

Another  instance  on  the  part  of  Mangus  Colorado, 
the  chief  of  the  Apaches:  During  my  administra- 
tion as  acting  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs  I  was 
present  with  General  Sumner  to  make  a  treaty  of 
peace.  He  was  an  Indian  of  remarkable  intelligence 
and  great  character.  I  asked  him  the  cause  of  the 
difficulties  with  the  people  in  Chihuahua  and  Sonora, 
for  at  that  time,  under  the  treaty  with  Mexico,  we 
were  bound  to  protect  its  people  from  the  attacks  of 
the  Indians  residing  in  New  Mexico.  He  said:  "I 
will  tell  you.  Sometime  ago  my  people  were  invited 
to  a  feast ;  aguardiente,  or  whiskey,  was  there ;  my  peo- 
ple drank  and  became  intoxicated,  and  were  lying 
asleep,  when  a  party  of  Mexicans  came  in  and  beat 
out  their  brains  with  clubs.  At  another  time  a  trader 
was  sent  among  us  from  Chihuahua.  While  inno- 
cently engaged  in  trading,  often  leading  to  words  of 
anger,  a  cannon  concealed  behind  the  goods  was  fired 
upon  my  people  and  quite  a  number  were  killed. 
Since  that  Chihuahua  has  offered  a  reward  for  our 
scalps,  $150  each,  and  we  have  been  hunted  down 
ever  since";  and,  with  great  emphasis  and  in  the 
most  impressive  manner,  he  added,  "How  can  we 
make  peace  with  such  people  ?" 

I  have  also  since  learned  from  the  agent  of  the 
tribe,  Dr.  Steck,  that  sixty  Indians  of  the  same  tribe 
were  poisoned  by  strychnine.  The  whole  country  of 
Sonora  and  Chihuahua  has  been  devastated  by  these 
Indians.  This  same  chief  was  afterwards  taken  pris- 
oner by  our  own  troops  and  confined  in  the  guard 
house,  and  was  killed  while  so  confined  by  the  sentinel. 


118  APPENDIX 

The  Navajos,  while  Mr.  Dodge  was  their  agent 
and  Major  Kendrick  and  Major  Backus  in  command 
of  the  posts  in  their  country,  were  friendly  and  peace- 
able, owing  to  the  prudence  and  wisdom  with  which 
those  officers  discharged  the  duties  of  their  stations, 
and,  in  my  opinion,  had  they  remained,  or  persons 
of  equal  prudence,  there  would  not  have  been  any 
hostilities  on  the  part  of  the  Navajos.  There  was  a 
change  of  agents  and  military  commanders  in  their 
country,  and  a  war  broke  out  in  the  consequence  of 
the  killing  of  a  negro  boy  of  Major  Brooks',  as  I  am 
informed.  Another  cause  of  trouble  has  been  in  con- 
sequence of  the  capture  of  their  flocks  and  herds, 
and  their  women  and  children  for  servants. 

About  a  year  ago  a  Navajo  travelling  with  his 
wife  and  two  or  three  children  was  shot  down  by 
a  company  of  Mexican  troops.  He  defended  himself 
bravely  to  the  last,  but  he  was  killed  and  scalped  - 
one  of  the  party  giving  me  an  account  of  it,  saying  his 
bravery  won  their  admiration.  He  brought  me  the 
scalp,  which  I  now  present  to  the  committee. 

PLANS    OF    THE    MILITARY   TO   SUBJUGATE   THE   NAVAJOS 

Headquarters  Department  of  New  Mexico, 

Santa  Fe,  New  Mexico, 

September  30,  1862. 
General : 

I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  I  relieved 
General  Canby  in  the  command  of  this  department 
on  the  18th  instant,  and  he  left  this  city  for  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.,  four  days  afterwards.  I  find  that  dur- 
ing the  raid  which  was  made  into  this  Territory  by 
some  armed  men  from  Texas,  under  Brigadier  Gen- 
eral Sibley,  of  the  army  of  the  so-called  Confederate 
States,  the  Indians,  aware  that  the  attention  of  our 
troops  could  not,  for  the  time,  be  turned  toward 


APPENDIX  119 

them,  commenced  robbing  the  inhabitants  of  their 
stock,  and  killed,  in  various  places,  a  great  number 
of  people;  the  Navajos  on  the  western  side,  and  the 
Mescalero  Apaches  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  settle- 
ments both  committing  these  outrages  at  the  same 
time,  and  during  the  last  year  that  has  passed  have 
left  the  people  greatly  impoverished.  Many  farms 
and  settlements  near  Fort  Stanton  have  been  entirely 
abandoned. 

To  punish  and  control  the  Mescaleros,  I  have 
ordered  Fort  Stanton  to  be  reoccupied.  That  post 
is  in  the  heart  of  their  country,  and  hitherto  when 
troops  occupied  it  those  Indians  were  at  peace.  1 
have  sent  Colonel  Christopher  Carson  (Kit  Carson) 
with  five  companies  of  his  regiment  of  New  Mexican 
volunteers,  to  Fort  Stanton.  One  of  these  companies, 
on  foot,  will  hold  the  post  and  guard  the  stores,  while 
four  companies  mounted,  under  Carson,  will  operate 
against  the  Indians  until  they  have  been  punished 
for  their  recent  aggressions.  The  lieutenant  colonel, 
with  four  companies  of  the  same  regiment,  will  move 
into  the  Navajo  country  and  establish  and  garrison 
a  post  on  the  Gallo,  which  was  selected  by  General 
Canby;  it  is  called  Fort  Wingate.  I  shall  endeavor 
to  have  this  force,  assisted  by  some  militia  which  have 
been  called  out  by  the  governor  of  the  Territory,  per- 
form such  services  among  the  Navajos  as  will  bring 
them  to  feel  that  they  have  been  doing  wrong. 

I  am,  general,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient 
servant  JAMES  H.  CARLETON, 

Brigadier  General  Commanding. 

Brigadier  General  Lorenzo  Thomas, 
Adjutant  General,  U.  S.  A., 
Washington,  D.  C. 


120  APPENDIX 

KIT    CARSON    INVADES    THE    NAVAJOS'    STRONGHOLD    AND 
CAPTURES  MANY  PRISONERS 

Headquarters  Department  of  New  Mexico, 

Las  Cruces,  New  Mexico, 

February  7,  1864. 
General : 

I  have  the  honor  herewith  to  inclose  a  copy  of  the 
report  of  Colonel  Christopher  Carson,  commanding 
the  expedition  against  the  Navajo  Indians,  of  his 
success  in  marching  a  command  through  the  celebrat- 
ed Canyon  de  Chelly,  the  great  stronghold  of  that 
tribe,  and  of  the  killing  of  twenty-three  of  the  war- 
riors and  the  capture  of  a  large  number  of  prisoners. 
These  prisoners  are  now  en  route  to  the  Bosque  Ee- 
dondo. 


This  is  the  first  time  any  troops,  whether  when 
the  country  belonged  to  Mexico  or  since  we  acquired 
it,  have  been  able  to  pass  through  the  Canyon  de 
Chelly,  which,  for  its  great  depth,  its  length,  its  per- 
pendicular walls,  and  its  labyrinthine  character,  has 
been  regarded  by  eminent  geologists  as  the  most  re- 
markable of  any  "fissure"  (for  such  it  is  held  to  be) 
upon  the  face  of  the  globe.  It  has  been  the  great 
fortress  of  the  tribe  since  time  out  of  mind.  To  this 
point  they  fled  when  pressed  by  our  troops.  Colonel 
Washington,  Colonel  Sumner,  and  many  other  com- 
manders have  made  an  attempt  to  go  through  it,  but 
had  to  retrace  their  steps.  It  was  reserved  for  Colonel 
Carson  to  be  the  first  to  succeed;  and  I  respectfully 
request  the  government  will  favorably  notice  that 
officer,  and  give  him  a  substantial  reward  for  this 
crowning  act  in  a  long  life  spent  in  various  capacities 


Crossing  the  Desert 

(From  the  Southern  Workman) 


APPENDIX  121 

in  the  service  of  his  country  in  fighting  the  savages 
among  the  fastnesses  of  the  Eocky  Mountains. 
******* 

I  believe  this  will  be  the  last  Navajo  war.  The 
persistent  efforts  which  have  been  and  will  continue 
to  be  made  can  hardly  fail  to  bring  in  the  whole  tribe 
before  the  year  ends.  I  beg  respectfully  to  call  the 
serious  attention  of  the  government  to  the  destitute 
condition  of  the  captives,  and  beg  for  authority  to 
provide  clothing  for  the  women  and  children.  Every 
preparation  will  be  made  to  plant  large  crops  for  their 
subsistence  at  the  Bosque  Redondo  the  coming  spring. 
Whether  the  Indian  department  will  do  anything  for 
these  Indians  or  not  you  will  know.  But  whatever  is 
to  be  done  should  be  done  at  once.  At  all  events,  as  I 
before  wrote  you,  ' '  we  can  feed  them  cheaper  than  we 
can  fight  them.11 

I  am,  general,  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

JAMES  H.  CARLETON, 
Brigadier  General,  Commanding. 

Brigadier  General  Lorenzo  Thomas, 

Adjutant  General  U.  S.  A., 

Washington,  D.  C. 

KIT    CARSON    RECEIVES    HONORABLE    MENTION    FOR    SUB- 
DUING  THE   NAVAJOS 

Headquarters  Department  of  New  Mexico, 

Santa  Fe,  N.  M.,  February  27,  1864. 
General : 

What  with  the  Navajos  I  have  captured  and  those 
who  have  surrendered  we  have  now  over  three  thou- 
sand, and  will,  without  doubt,  soon  have  the  whole 
tribe.  I  do  not  believe  they  number  now  much  over 
five  thousand,  all  told.  You  have  doubtless  seen  the 


122  APPENDIX 

last  of  the  Navajo  war  —  a  war  that  has  been  con- 
tinued with  but  few  intermissions  for  one  hundred 
and  eighty  years,  and  which,  during  that  time,  has 
been  marked  by  every  shade  of  atrocity,  brutality 
and  ferocity  which  can  be  imagined  or  which  can  be 
found  in  the  annals  of  conflict  between  our  own  and 
the  aboriginal  race. 

I  beg  to  congratulate  you  and  the  country  at 
large  on  the  prospect  that  this  formidable  band  of 
robbers  and  murderers  have  at  last  been  made  to 
succumb.  To  Colonel  Christopher  Carson,  first  cav- 
alry New  Mexico  volunteers,  Capt.  Asa  B.  Casey, 
United  States  Army,  and  the  officers  and  men  who 
served  in  the  Navajo  campaign,  the  credit  for  these 
successes  is  mainly  due.  #***** 

I  am,  general,  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

JAMES  H.  CARLETON, 
Brigadier  General,  Commanding. 

Brigadier  General  Lorenzo  Thomas, 

Adjutant  General  U.  S.  A., 

Washington,  D.  C. 

REPORT    OF    THE    CONDITION    OF    THE    NAVAJO   PRISONERS 
OF   WAR  AT   THE   BASQUE   REDONDO,    NEW   MEXICO 

Headquarters  Department  of  New  Mexico, 

Santa  Fe,  N.  M.,  March  12,  1864. 
General : 

Since  writing  to  you  on  the  6th  instant  in  rela- 
tion to  the  Navajo  Indians,  I  have  been  informed  that 
there  are  now  three  thousand  of  them  —  men,  women 
and  children  —  who  have  surrendered  at  Fort  Canby, 
and  are  about  starting  for  the  Bosque  Redondo.  These, 
with  those  now  at  that  place  and  enroute  thither,  will 
make  five  thousand  five  hundred,  without  including 
the  captive  Mescalero  Apaches.  There  will  doubtless 


APPENDIX  123 

be  more  Navajos  come  into  Fort  Canby —  what  are 
known  as  the  Ricos  of  the  tribe  —  men  who  have 
stock,  and  will  doubtless  be  able  to  subsist  themselves 
upon  that  stock  until  we  are  better  prepared  to  take 
care  of  them.  Colonel  Carson  has  been  instructed  to 
send  in  the  poor  and  destitute  first.  The  Ricos  will 
come  in  afterwards.  Among  the  poor  are  nearly  or 
quite  all  the  ladrones  and  murderers,  so  that  we  have 
already  in  our  hands  the  bad  men  of  the  tribe.  An 
exact  census  will  be  taken  of  the  Ricos,  and  a  state- 
ment made  of  the  probable  amount  of  their  stock, 
which  has  hitherto  been  greatly  exaggerated,  in  my 
opinion.  When  this  is  done,  Colonel  Carson  will  him- 
self come  in  from  the  Navajo  country  and  go  down 
to  the  Bosque  Redondo  to  give  the  Indians  the  counsel 
they  so  much  need  just  at  this  time  as  to  how  to  start 
their  farms  and  to  commence  their  new  mode  of  life. 
You  have  from  time  to  time  been  informed  of  every 
step  which  I  have  taken  with  reference  to  operations 
against  Indians  in  this  country.  I  multiplied,  as 
much  as  possible,  the  points  of  contact  between  our 
forces  and  themselves,  and,  although  no  great  battle 
has  been  fought,  still  the  persistent  efforts  of  small 
parties  acting  simultaneously  over  a  large  extent  of 
country,  have  destroyed  a  great  many  and  harrassed 
the  survivors  until  they  have  become  thoroughly  sub- 
dued. Now,  when  they  have  surrendered  and  are  at 
our  mercy,  they  must  be  taken  care  of  —  must  be  fed, 
clothed  and  instructed.  This  admits  neither  of  dis- 
cussion nor  delay.  These  six  thousand  mouths  must 
eat,  and  these  six  thousand  bodies  must  be  clothed. 
When  it  is  considered  what  a  magnificent  pastoral 
and  mineral  country  they  have  surrendered  —  a  coun- 
try whose  value  can  hardly  be  estimated  —  the  mere 
pittance,  in  comparison,  which  must  at  once  be  given 
to  support  them,  sinks  into  insignificance  as  a  price 
for  their  natural  heritage. 


124  APPENDIX 

They  must  have  two  million  pounds  of  bread- 
stuffs  sent  from  the  States.  This  can  be  done  by 
installments  —  the  first  installment  to  be  started  at 
once;  say  five  hundred  thousand  pounds  of  flour  and 
corn,  in  equal  parts.  The  next  installment  to  reach 
the  Bosque  in  August  next,  and  all  to  be  delivered  by 
the  middle  of  next  November.  This  amount  will  last 
them,  with  what  we  can  buy  here,  until  the  crops 
come  off  in  1865;  when  from  that  time  forward,  so 
far  as  food  may  go,  they  will,  in  my  opinion,  be  self- 
sustaining. 

Add  to  these  breadstuffs  four  thousand  head  of 
cattle,  to  come  by  installments  of  five  hundred  each 
—  the  first  to  reach  the  Bosque  by  the  first  of  July 
next,  and  all  to  be  there  by  the  middle  of  November. 
Salt  can  be  bought  here,  but  you  can  not  buy  the 
breadstuffs  or  the  meat;  they  are  not  in  the  country, 
and  consequently  can  not  be  got  at  any  price.  In 
view  of  the  contingencies  of  delays,  accidents,  etc.,  I 
have  put  all  the  troops  on  half  rations,  and,  at  most 
of  the  posts,  ordered  that  no  grain  be  issued  to  cavalry 
horses.  These  six  thousand  people  must  be  fed  until 
you  can  get  us  relieved  by  sending  supplies,  as  above 
named,  from  the  States.  This  matter,  being  of  para- 
mount importance,  is  alluded  to  here  as  the  first 
which  will  claim  your  attention  or,  rather,  your  ac- 
tion; for  the  matter  is  imperative  —  is  self  evident; 
it  needs  no  deliberation,  as  you  will  see,  and  admits 
of  no  delay. 

Next  comes  the  wherewithal  to  clothe  these  poor 
women  and  these  little  children.  You  will  find  in  a 
duplicate  of  the  letter  which  I  wrote  to  you  on  the 
6th  of  March,  and  which  is  herewith  inclosed,  a  list 
of  such  articles  as  are  absolutely  needed  now. 

Then  come  agricultural  implements,  which  must 
be  here  to  insure  the  crops.  Then  the  tools,  cooking 


APPENDIX  125 

utensils,  etc.,  etc.,  lists  of  which  you  will  also  find 
enveloped  with  this  letter. 

I  beg  to  call  your  attention  to  the  most  important 
consideration  —  the  management  of  the  Navajos  upon 
the  reservation.  The  amount  of  ability  and  business 
habits  and  tact  necessary  in  one  who  should  be  se- 
lected to  direct  these  people  in  their  work,  and  in  the 
systematic  employment  of  their  seasons  of  labor  — 
in  one  having  forecast  to  see  their  coming  wants  and 
necessities,  and  having  resources  of  practical  sense 
to  provide  for  those  wants  and  necessities  —  in  one 
who  would  have  the  expending  of  the  funds  which 
must  be  appropriated  for  their  support  —  cannot  be 
commanded  for  the  sum  of  fifteen  hundred  dollars 
per  annum,  given  to  an  Indian  agent.  The  law  to 
be  framed  granting  an  annuity  to  the  tribe  should 
also  provide  for  a  supervisor,  with  a  salary  at  least 
of  three  thousand  dollars  a  year,  and  an  assistant  sup- 
ervisor, with  a  salary  equal  to  that  of  an  Indian 
agent.  These  men  should  be  selected  with  great  care. 
The  assistant  supervisor  should  be  apt  at  accounts  — 
practical  as  a  man  of  business  —  of  resources  as  a 
farmer  and  as  a  mechanic  —  of  patience,  industry 
and  temperance  —  one  whose  heart  would  be  in  his 
business,  and  who  would  himself  believe  that  his  time 
belonged  to  the  government,  and  need  not  be  spent 
mainly  in  " grinding  axes"  elsewhere  at  the  expense 
of  the  United  States.  The  superintendent  need  have, 
and  should  have,  no  further  control  than  simply  to 
audit  the  accounts. 

If  all  this  be  set  forth  in  the  law,  so  far  as  salary 
and  duties  go,  the  whole  plan  will  go  into  successful 
operation  at  once.  If  not  set  forth  in  the  law,  you 
may  depend  upon  it,  general,  that,  with  the  changes 
in  superintendents  —  with  diverse  counsels  and  di- 
verse interests,  and  lack  of  fixedness  of  purpose  and 
system  —  the  Indians  will  not  be  properly  cared  for, 


126  APPENDIX 

and,  in  room  of  becoming  a  happy,  prosperous  and 
contented  people,  will  become  sad  and  desponding, 
and  will  soon  lapse  into  idle  and  intemperate  habits. 
You  wish  them  to  become  a  people  whom  all  can 
contemplate  with  pride  and  satisfaction  as  proteges 
of  the  United  States  —  a  people  who,  in  return  for 
having  given  you  their  country,  have  been  remem- 
bered and  carefully  provided  for  by  a  powerful 
Christian  nation  like  ourselves.  But  unless  you  make 
in  the  law  all  the  arrangements  here  contemplated, 
you  will  find  this  interesting  and  intelligent  race  of 
Indians  will  fast  diminish  in  numbers,  until,  within 
a  few  years  only,  not  one  of  those  who  boasted  in  the 
proud  name  of  Navajo  will  be  left  to  upbraid  us  for 
having  taken  their  birthright,  and  then  left  them  to 
perish. 

With  other  tribes  whose  lands  we  have  acquired, 
ever  since  the  Pilgrims  stepped  on  shore  at  Plymouth, 
this  has  been  done  too  often.  For  pity's  sake,  if  not 
moved  by  any  other  consideration,  let  us,  as  a  great 
nation,  for  once  treat  the  Indian  as  he  deserves  to 
be  treated.  It  is  due  to  ourselves  as  well  as  to  them, 
that  this  be  done. 

Having  this  purpose  in  view,  I  am  sure  the  law- 
makers will  not  be  ungenerous;  nor  will  they  be  un- 
mindful of  all  those  essential  points  which,  In  chang- 
ing a  people  from  a  nomadic  to  an  agricultural  condi- 
tion of  life,  should  be  kept  in  view,  in  order  to  guard 
them  against  imposition,  to  protect  them  in  their 
rights,  to  encourage  them  in  their  labors,  and  to  pro- 
vide for  all  their  reasonable  wants. 

The  exodus  of  this  whole  people  from  the  land 
of  their  fathers  is  not  only  an  interesting  but  a  touch- 
ing sight.  They  have  fought  us  gallantly  for  years 
on  years;  they  have  defended  their  mountains  and 
their  stupendous  canyons  with  a  heroism  which  any 
people  might  be  proud  to  emulate;  but  when,  at 


APPENDIX  127 

length,  they  found  it  was  their  destiny  too,  as  it  had 
been  that  of  their  brethren,  tribe  after  tribe,  away 
back  toward  the  rising  of  the  sun,  to  give  way  to  the 
insatiable  progress  of  our  race,  they  threw  down  their 
arms,  and,  as  brave  men  entitled  to  our  admiration 
and  respect,  have  come  to  us  with  confidence  in  our 
magnanimity,  and  feeling  that  we  are  too  powerful 
and  too  just  a  people  to  repay  that  confidence  with 
meanness  or  neglect  —  feeling  that  for  having  sacri- 
ficed to  us  their  beautiful  country,  their  homes,  the 
associations  of  their  lives,  the  scenes  rendered  classic 
in  their  traditions,  we  will  not  dole  out  to  them  a 
miser's  pittance  in  return  for  what  we  know  to  be  a 
princely  realm. 

This  is  a  matter  of  such  vital  importance  that  I 
can  not  intrust  to  the  accidents  of  a  mail,  but  trans- 
mit this  letter  and  its  accompanying  papers  by  a 
special  messenger  —  Colonel  James  L.  Collins,  late 
superintendent  of  Indian  affairs  —  who  can  be  con- 
sulted with  profit  not  only  by  the  War  and  Interior 
Departments,  but  by  the  proper  committees  in  Con- 
gress, whose  attention  will  have  to  be  called  at  once 
to  the  subject. 

******* 

I  am,  general,  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

JAMES  H.  CARLETON, 
Brigadier  General,  Commanding. 

Brigadier  General  Lorenzo  Thomas, 

Adjutant  General  U.  S.  A., 

Washington,  D.  C. 


128 


APPENDIX 


TWENTY  YEARS  AFTER  THE  WAR 

Report  of  the  United  States  Indian  Agent  on  the  Con- 
dition of  the  Navajo  Indians 

United  States  Indian  Service, 
Navajo  Agency,  N.  Mex.,  August  12,  1889. 
Sir: 

If  not  an  impossibility,  it  is  at  least  a  very  diffi- 
cult matter,  to  obtain  a  full  and  correct  census  of  the 
tribe.  Twenty  years  ago  when  the  Government  re- 
turned them  to  the  reservation  from  their  banishment 
to  Texas,  they  numbered  from  12,000  to  13,000  in 
addition  to  which  there  were  nearly  400  who  were 
never  captured  and  who  remained  in  the  mountains 
until  the  return  of  their  brethren.  Since  then  the 
population  has  increased  at  a  moderate  rate,  and  from 
the  most  reliable  information  obtainable  I  should 
judge  it  is  now  in  the  neighborhood  of  21,000.  This 
number  is  divided  into  ten  clans,  each  of  which  has  a 
chief,  as  follows : 


CLAN 

Man  That  Went  Around 
Black  Sheep 
Close  to  Streams 
Big  Water 
Bitter  Water 
Meeting  the  Water 
Blackwood 
Leaves 
Red  Bank 
Band  That  Escaped 


CHIEF 

White  Head 

Son  of  His  Father 

Balgoonda 

Gano  Muncho  and  Manuelito 

Be-tchi-bnu 

Sandoval 

Sin-in-is-Ky 

Long  Back 

Mariana 

Loud  Man 


The  principal  wealth  of  the  Navajos  is  their  stock, 
which,  like  the  population,  it  is  a  difficult  matter  to 


A  Navajo  Athlete 


APPENDIX  129 

estimate,  but  from  the  most  reliable  information  -at 
hand  I  should  say  is  about  as  follows: 

Horses 250,000 

Mules    500 

Burros    1,000 

Cattle   5,000 

Sheep    700,000 

Goats 200,000 

By  common  consent  the  sheep  are  considered  the 
property  of  the  women,  and  are  clipped  in  the  spring 
and  fall  each  year.  In  the  past  twelve  months  I 
should  judge  the  crop  to  be  about  2,100,000  pounds. 
Of  this  the  seven  traders  on  the  reservation  have  pur- 
chased more  than  they  did  a  year  ago,  but  by  far  the 
greater  portion  of  it  has  been  marketed  with  the 
thirty-odd  traders  who  surround  the  reservation  at 
different  points,  and  with  stores  on  the  railroad  at 
points  from  twelve  to  twenty  miles  from  the  reser- 
vation. 

In  addition  to  his  stock  the  Indian  counts  his 
wealth  by  his  beads  and  silver  ornaments.  The 
only  money  known  to  him  is  silver  coin.  After  sup- 
plying his  wants  of  food  and  clothing  his  surplus  cash 
is  converted  into  ornaments  by  native  workmen,  which 
are  worn  on  the  body  or  used  on  trappings  for  his 
horses.  When  he  becomes  hard  up,  between  harvests, 
which  is  by  no  means  uncommon,  these  ornaments 
are  pawned  with  the  traders,  but  are  invariably  re- 
deemed. 

The  Navajo  has  always  been  taught  to  estimate 
his  wealth  by  the  number  of  horses  he  owns,  and 
there  are  many  who  own  hundreds  of  heads  each, 
while  a  few  count  their  possessions  by  thousands.  As 
these  animals  do  not  command  good  prices  off  the 
reservation,  and  as  they  are  rapidly  increasing  in 
numbers,  the  Indian  is  beginning  to  look  about  for  a 


130  APPENDIX 

means  of  increasing  his  wealth  in  other  shape.  Quite 
a  number  of  them  are  turning  their  attention  to  cattle 
raising  and  are  trading  their  horses  for  calves  wher- 
ever they  can  do  so.  In  this  I  encourage  them  when- 
ever the  opportunity  presents  itself,  because  cattle 
are  as  easily  raised  as  horses  and  a  market  can  always 
be  found  for  them  at  fair  cash  prices. 

The  reservation  contains  nearly  2,250,000*  acres, 
which  for  picturesque  grandeur  can  not  be  excelled 
in  the  United  States,  but  considered  as  a  farming 
country  would  require  an  elastic  imagination  to  pro- 
duce a  favorable  comment.  The  altitude  of  the  coun- 
try ranges  from  5,000  to  7,500  feet  above  sea  level  and 
is  never  favored  with  rain  at  a  season  of  the  year 
when  growing  grain  can  derive  any  benefit  from  it. 
Where  there  is  any  soil  it  is  sandy,  but  produces 
well  when  water  can  be  had  for  irrigation.  I  do  not 
suppose  there  are  over  50,000  acres  of  tillable  soil  on 
the  reservation,  although  the  mountains  in  m&ny 
places  furnish  ample  pasture  for  stock.  In  the  past 
year  the  Indians  have  cultivated  about  8,000  acres. 
Their  crops  are  looking  well,  particularly  wheat,  and 
promise  a  good  harvest.  In  the  past  year,  the  De- 
partment furnished  me  for  distribution  among  the 
tribe  fifty  bushels  of  wheat,  some  potatoes,  and  a 
small  assortment  of  garden  seeds.  The  supply  was 
soon  exhausted  and  fell  far  short  of  meeting  the 
demand.  Owing  to  the  abundance  of  snow  which 
falls  here  in  the  winter  and  the  dry  weather  which 
follows  in  the  spring,  it  is  my  opinion  that  winter 
wheat  can  be  successfully  grown  on  the  reservation, 
and  I  will  ask  that  a  sufficient  quantity  for  seeding 
be  furnished  this  season. 

I  am  informed  that  last  year  the  Department 
spent  $12,000  on  the  construction  of  irrigation  ditches 

*Now  9,503,763  acres. 


APPENDIX  131 

on  the  reservation.  I  -have  been  over  the  ground 
where  the  work  was  done,  and  am  sorry  to  say  that 
it  amounts  to  nothing.  The  ditches  were  evidently 
built  without  any  regard  to  utility,  durability,  or 
knowledge  of  the  subject.  In  many  places  the  alleged 
ditch  was  merely  a  furrow  turned  with  a  plow.  No 
care  was  ever  taken  of  them,  and  even  if  they  had 
been  constructed  in  a  workmanlike  manner  they  would 
have  been  useless  this  year,  as  the  Indians  of  their  own 
accord  will  take  no  care  of  them,  and  from  this  cause 
the  crop  last  year  was  a  failure.  Where  irrigation 
is  undertaken  in  a  sensible  manner  there  is  no  reason 
why  the  crops  should  fail.  There  are  many  valleys 
on  the  reservation  where  storage  reservoirs  could  be 
constructed  which  would  hold  a  sufficient  quantity 
of  water  to  thoroughly  irrigate  all  the  tillable  land  in 
the  neighborhood.  As  the  Indian  will  not  keep  ditches 
in  repair,  the  reservation  should  be  divided  into  four 
districts  for  irrigation  purposes  and  each  should  be 
placed  in  charge  of  a  competent  farmer,  whose  duty 
it  would  be  to  see  that  all  the  ditches  and  laterals  are 
kept  in  good  repair,  and  at  the  same  time  assist  and 
instruct  the  Indians  in  farming.  Until  some  such 
plan  as  this  is  adopted  and  followed,  irrigation  by  the 
Indians  will  be  a  failure.  If  it  is  adopted  and  fol- 
lowed the  Indians  will  soon  learn  to  take  care  of 
themselves,  and  in  a  few  years  will  become  inde- 
pendent of  any  assistance  or  information  from  the 
whites.  In  this  connection  it  is  proper  to  state  that 
Lieut.  J.  M.  Stotzenburg,  of  the  Sixth  Cavalry,  is 
now  engaged  in  making  a  survey  of  the  reservation 
for  irrigating  purposes,  and  will  submit  a  report  in  a 
short  time. 

On  the  first  of  February  last  nearly  a  third  of 
the  tribe  were  off  the  reservation,  many  of  them 
being  scattered  along  the  line  of  the  railroad,  and 
very  few  of  them  doing  any  good  for  themselves  or 


132  APPENDIX 

others.  Since  that  time  about  150  families  have  been 
induced  to  return  and  resume  their  residence,  where 
they  properly  belong  and  where  every  Navajo  should 
be.  It  will  doubtless  take  some  time  to  get  them  all 
back,  but  if  a  time  is  specified  in  which  to  do  the 
work,  I  anticipate  no  trouble  in  bringing  about  the 
desired  end. 

The  influence  of  the  chiefs  is  rapidly  waning  and 
has  almost  disappeared.  It  is  very  seldom  their  ad- 
vice is  sought  —  never  in  matters  of  general  import- 
ance —  and  when  offered  it  is  rarely  accepted.  When 
disputes  occur  which  cannot  be  settled  among  them- 
selves, the  matter  is  generally  laid  before  the  agent, 
whose  decision  and  advice  are  accepted  in  good  faith 
by  the  interested  parties.  But  I  am  sorry  to  say  the 
medicine  men  still  exert  a  bad  influence  over  the 
members  of  the  tribe,  although  they  are  losing  ground 
and  many  come  in  to  consult  the  agency  physician. 
Like  many  other  tribes  the  Navajos  are,  unfortunately, 
the  victims  of  that  loathsome  disease,  syphilis,  and 
being  transmissable  from  one  generation  to  another, 
it  is  constantly  becoming  more  widespread.  It  is  a 
source  of  much  regret  that  present  facilities  render 
it  utterly  impossible  to  eradicate  this  fearful  malady 
and  the  many  ills  resulting  therefrom.  A  hospital 
at  the  agency,  where  protracted  treatment  could  be 
enforced,  offers  the  only  hope  of  permanent  relief,  as 
the  Indian  cannot  be  relied  upon  to  persevere  in  the 
protracted  use  of  remedies.  It  is  confidently  believed 
that  with  the  proper  facility  for  eliminating  this  con- 
taminating and  fatal  disease,  the  sanitary  condition 
of  these  hardy  people  could  be  brought  almost  to 
perfection,  as  nine-tenths  of  all  their  numerous  com- 
plaints are  traceable  thereto. 

Another  matter  to  which  I  wish  to  call  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Department  is  the  need  of  an  industrial 
school  here  at  which  the  older  boys  can  be  taught 


APPENDIX  133 

trades.  They  are  all  willing  to  learn,  and,  in  making 
improvements  or  repairs  at  the  agency,  display  an 
aptitude  which  is  at  once  surprising  and  gratifying. 
It  may  be  urged  against  the  teaching  of  such  branches 
here  that  the  government  has  made  ample  provisions 
for  such  instruction  at  other  schools  to  which  these 
children  may  be  sent.  Granted.  But  on  the  other 
hand  there  are  many  reasons  why  such  a  school  should 
be  established  here.  By  reference  to  statistics  I  find 
that  the  Navajos  represent  nearly  one-twelfth  of  the 
entire  Indian  population  of  the  United  States,  though 
in  reality  I  believe  one-tenth  would  be  nearer  correct, 
and  they  are  steadily  increasing  in  population.  In 
point  of  numbers,  then,  the  reservation  would  support 
such  a  school.  The  government  has  sent  a  sawmill 
here  to  cut  lumber  for  the  Indians  with  which  they 
may  build  houses.  All  who  can  avail  themselves  of 
the  benefits  to  be  derived  from  it  wish  to  do  so,  and 
daily  I  have  applications  for  materials  and  tools. 
None  of  these  Indians  are  carpenters,  and  must  of 
course  labor  under  great  disadvantages  in  building 
unless  they  bring  to  their  assistance  white  labor,  which 
is  very  expensive  in  this  locality.  Of  course,  under 
such  circumstances,  they  all  fully  appreciate  the  bene- 
fits to  be  derived  from  the  knowledge  of  the  trades  and 
want  their  children  to  learn  one.  There  are  a  number 
of  the  boys  who  want  to  learn  to  be  tinners.  Some 
want  to  be  wagonmakers;  some  blacksmiths,  and  the 
proportions  of  the  school  at  present  would  warrant 
the  establishment  of  a  tailor  shop  and  shoemaker  shop. 
The  school  quarters,  which  were  built  to  accommodate 
sixty  pupils,  are  now  crowded  to  overflowing  with 
ninety-nine  pupils  from  all  portions  of  the  reserva- 
tion, and  representing  the  most  thrifty  and  enterpris- 
ing families  among  the  Navajos. 

Nothing  will  induce  the  Navajo  to  send  his  child- 
ren away  from  the  reservation  to  attend  school.     His 


134  APPENDIX 

affection  for  his  offspring  is  equal  to  that  of  any  race 
of  people  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  He  visits  his  child- 
ren at  the  school  frequently,  and  when  he  does  not 
reside  too  far  away,  likes  to  take  them  home  with  him 
occasionally  for  a  day  or  two  for  recreation.  He 
wants  them  near  him,  so  that  he  can  go  and  see  them 
at  any  time.  In  case  of  sickness  of  a  child  at  school 
it  is  remarkable  how  quickly  his  parents  find  it  out, 
and  come  to  see  him,  or  should  a  parent  be  taken  sick 
at  home  the  children  are  immediately  sent  after.  The 
Navajo  is  also  very  superstitious,  which  will  not  allow 
him  to  send  his  children  off  the  reservation  to  school. 
Some  years  ago,  Manuelito,  the  famous  war  chief  of 
the  tribe,  lost  two  sons  by  death  while  attending  school 
in  the  East,  and  since  then  no  Navajo  will  listen  to  a 
proposition  to  send  a  child  of  his  to  an  Eastern  school. 

But  aside  from  these  reasons  I  think  it  better  that 
the  industrial  branches  be  taught  at  home  where  their 
parents  can  see  them  at  work  and  witness  the  advan- 
tages to  be  derived  from  such  an  education.  These 
Indians  are  close  observers,  and  take  much  more  in- 
terest in  work  done  by  their  own  people  than  when 
it  is  manufactured  by  the  whites.  Send  an  Indian 
East  to  educate  him  for  the  benefit  of  his  tribe,  and 
should  he  take  a  notion  to  remain  among  the  whites, 
as  was  the  case  in  the  only  instance  under  my  obser- 
vation here,  it  is  a  discouragement  to  the  Department 
in  its  efforts  to  benefit  the  red  man,  inasmuch  as  it 
works  no  good  to  the  Indians,  but  on  the  contrary 
causes  them  to  prefer  the  company  of  their  sons  at 
home  in  ignorance  rather  than  risk  sending  them  away 
for  an  education  with  the  chance  of  never  seeing  them 
again. 

Polygamy  is  still  practiced  on  the  reservation,  but 
to  a  very  limited  extent,  and  is  discouraged  as  much 
as  possible.  The  Navajos  are  fond  of  gambling.  Some 
of  them  follow.it  for  a  living,  and  most  of  them  are 


APPENDIX  135 

willing  to  engage  in  it  whenever  an  opportunity  offers. 
When  a  crowd  of  them  met  at  the  agency  it  was  the 
custom  to  spread  a  blanket  anywhere  and  indulge 
their  favorite  proclivity.  This  led  to  petty  thieving 
in  several  cases,  which  I  promptly  punished  and 
broke  up  the  indulgence  in  this  locality.  This  is 
the  sum  total  of  the  sins  of  21,000  ignorant  and  un- 
civilized American  Indians  as  has  been  reported  to 
me  in  a  little  over  five  months,  and  the  Navajos  in- 
variably report  the  wrong  doings  of  their  neighbors. 
Can  any  community  of  like  numbers  in  the  civilized 
world  make  as  good  a  showing? 

It  has  been  reported  that  rich  mineral  ores,  par- 
ticularly silver,  abound  on  certain  portions  of  the 
reservation  and  would  likely  cause  trouble  between 
the  Indians  and  adventurous  prospectors.  In  the 
latter  part  of  March  it  was  reported  to  me  that  a  band 
of  miners  and  cow-boys  was  being  organized  at  Gallup, 
New  Mexico,  for  the  purpose  of  invading  the  reser- 
vation in  search  of  mineral.  The  report  proved  to  be 
correct,  but,  after  a  talk  with  the  leaders,  I  persuaded 
them  to  desist,  and  the  expedition  was  abandoned. 
I  am  informed  that  several  have  lost  their  lives  in 
adventurous  search  for  this  mythical  wealth,  and  it 
is  not  surprising.  The  mountains  which  are  said  to 
contain  this  alleged  wealth  are  the  Navajos'  place 
of  worship.  When  they  are  sick  they  go  there  to 
effect  a  cure,  and  it  is  their  belief  that  if  they  are 
invaded  by  the  white  man  they  will  die.  Add  to  this 
the  fact  that  the  white  man  has  no  business  there, 
and  it  is  not  surprising  that  he  finds  it  exceedingly 
dangerous.  I  have  investigated  all  these  stories  of 
mineral  wealth  as  thoroughly  as  circumstances  would 
permit,  and  find  there  is  nothing  in  them.  Mineral 
does  not  exist  on  the  reservation,  but  if  it  was  in 
paying  quantities  the  Indian  would  not  be  slow  to 
avail  himself  of  it. 


136  APPENDIX 

Aside  from  the  regular  Sabbath  exercises  in  the 
school  by  the  superintendent,  the  Navajos  are  without 
religious  instruction,  and  do  not  seem  to  be  considered 
fit  subjects  for  missionary  work  by  any  of  the  great 
religious  denominations  of  the  world.  Still  these 
Indians  are  religiously  inclined,  and  all  their  cere- 
monies are  religious  in  character,  though  not  of  the 
orthodox  requirements.  While  remembering  in  a 
substantial  way  the  heathen  of  other  lands  and  warm- 
er climes,  the  Navajo  of  the  United  States  should  not 
be  entirely  blotted  from  memory. 

Very  respectfully, 
Your  obedient  servant, 

C.  E.  VANDEVER, 
United  States  Indian  Agent. 
The  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs. 


AUTHOR'S  NOTE: — There  are  now  in  the  Navajo 
country  Missions  maintained  by  the  Methodists,  Bap- 
tists, Episcopalians,  Catholics,  Presbyterians  and 
Dutch  Reform  churches. 


RE 
1C 

LO 


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